Living in style - # 08/151
These days I'm paying close attention to the detail in the local architecture. Richmond (and villages all around London) simply "exploded" in the late 1890's and early 1900s thanks to the railway arriving in the mid 1840s. The "commuter belt" was created. Magnificent small houses and larger mansions were built for a prosperous middle-class basking in the wealth of the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen.
The details of this Edwardian terrace villa are substantially intact. Look at the tiles on the path, the attractive "rope style" ceramic divider with the typical, but today rarely seen, original arched clip thingy (what is it exactly???), the tiles inside the porch, the original front door (there since 1899?), the large, circular, electric door bell button (! - was that installed from the very beginning?), and all the rest. This is quality, this is style.
Wonderful tiles patterns.
ReplyDeleteThe little hook thingy is a puzzlement - to what purpose thinks I? The tiles inside the doorway are quite delightful.
ReplyDeleteShame about the amateurish paint job on No. 7!
Very interesting architectural details. It's anyone's guess what some of those things might have been. My house was built in 1927 and in remodeling I found all sorts of odd artifacts that no longer exist.
ReplyDeleteThat's half the fun of remodeling.
:0)
The curved metal ring rising from the paving divider was installed to enable people to scrape the dirt from their shoes / boots before entering the house.
ReplyDeleteLots of housing like this around the area I live in Sydney. Here it's often called "Federation" - due to it being popular around the time of Australian federation, when the colonies came together to form the federation of states and trritories and one country. There are Aussie adaptations, like verandahs at the front, and decorative pieces like kookaburras, and stained glass featuring Aust native wildlife. (I live in a federation house)
ReplyDeleteYou can take it from me, you haven't lived until you've tried to lay this pattern in encaustic tiles (what they are)
ReplyDeleteLovely. I especially like the tile work on the walkway. Looks like a carpet.
ReplyDeleteHi, intersting blog! -some cool pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe "original arched clip thingy", i believe is probably the last surviving part of a rail that would have run between the paths of the two houses. The base of this rail would have gone into the ground at the "arched clip thingy", and the rail would have stretched from the wall between the two houses down to the gate. The point at which the rail would have connected into the wall appears in your photograph as a light grey cement patch on the wall. The original victorian and edwardian iron work of Britain (especially London) was mostly removed during the war as people believed it would help towards the war effort as it was in short supply. So when it was removed it would have left a small hole in the wall - hence it being filled in with modern grey cement. I also notice the brick work still has its original red cement mortar - today people often apply a grey cement mortar between the bricks which completely detracts from the beautiful red bricks while the red cement mortar totaly enhances it - thats what they originaly used - and its still there after 100 years!- Brilliant.
from Muswell Hill, fellow Londoner