A Liar and Strawberry Hill

I'm not sure why this appealed to me, but I saw another panto being put on by a small theatre company and because the tickets were so inexpensive I leapt. It was called "The Liar, The Bitch and the Wardrobe, and was a take on the C. S. Lewis children's book. It was very camp and very fun and the four actors were hilarious.

It was a tiny theatre but well-designed and I was sad to learn that not only was the show closing that night, the theatre was as well. It was located in the Battersea section of London and to get to it you had to cross the enormous, modern apartment and shopping development which was packed with restaurants and bars. If you lived there and could work at home you'd never have to leave the complex.

There was a small Christmas fair there as well, which was sparkly and inviting, but instead of mulled wine and sausages we opted for dinner at a local seafood restaurant. Still nice to see the lights, though. There was a skating rink, too, and I was really tempted since skating was a big love of mine when I was a kid but my chiropractor is 4,700 miles away, so no.

Those tall pillars on the building below are, in fact, former industrial chimneys from the Battersea Power Station. The whole building has been transformed into an enormous upmarket mall. It makes me wonder when I see places like this which are packed with shoppers yet hear how bad the economy is in the UK. Smacks of a terribly stratified society when some can pay £500 for a purse and others have to go without heating due to rate rises and lack of subsidies - not that that's terribly unusual; I am from the US, after all.

The next morning we were off to Strawberry Hill House, a Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole in around 1749.

It is an example of the "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of architecture, and it prefigured the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival. It's an appropriate style for Walpole, since he became famous for his novel "The Castle of Otranto" which is considered the first Gothic novel. The interiors of Walpole's "little play-thing house" were intended to be "settings of Gothic 'gloomth' for Walpole's collection". His collection of curious, singular, antiquarian objects was well publicized.

One of the prized possessions on display in the entry hall is the Chinese porcelain goldfish bowl. If I remember correctly it dates to about the 7th century.

Its claim to fame is rather horrid. Mr. Walpole stocked goldfish in the bowl and his favorite cat, Selma, drowned in the bowl while "fishing." What's so extraordinary is that the event was immortalized in the mock elegy "Ode on Death of a Favorite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" by poet Thomas Gray at the request of Walpole.

All of the architectural details you see in the hall (above) are not plaster or wood, but hand painted wallpaper.

The main reception room, though currently rather sparsely furnished, contains some remarkable paintings.

I don't remember who the left painting is meant to be. The center triple portrait is by Joshua Reynolds and is of three Portuguese sisters (cousins?) who were not terribly attractive, but were of marriageable age. This portrait was done as the equivalent of Tinder profile. It was a successful portrait because all three found husbands. The painting on the right is of Walpole's mother Catherine.

According to one of his biographers, his love for her was one of the most powerful of his life. He never married or had a serious relationship with a woman and was described by a political opponent as "a hermaphrodite horse".

These three are paintings of Walpole's father in the center, Catherine on the right, and his mistress on the left. He and his wife didn't get along and when she died, he married his mistress.

As you walk up the ornate stairway

you notice plaster impalas which were part of Walpole's coat of arms.

This room, with its amazing Moorish velvet ceiling, is not from Walpole's tenure but were added by the family that owned the house afterwards. It was considered so rare that the Strawberry Hill House Trust decided to leave it.

There are a few rooms, darkly lit but illuminated by the 16th Century stained glass windows that Walpole brought back from his grand tour.

Once you tour the small rooms upstairs comes the real treat: the Great Hall. And great it is.

The elaborate ceiling is actually made of papier maché with gold leaf.

I'm not sure that the photos do it justice; it's dazzling and staggeringly grand.

Just off the the hall is a round room that was originally intended to be a bedroom, but which was used as a withdrawing room. Probably a good call. I can't imagine sleeping amongst all this gold.

The fireplace is inlaid with colorful minerals.

The windows feature stained glass portraits of Kings of England.

There's another small room off the hall which, at the moment, is being prepped to display something, though what that something is was not stated.

The ceiling is, again, incredible.

There are niches and shelves around the room but with rare exception, they're all empty. In a small case at the back of the room is a very small Roman bust that belonged to Horace Walpole. The tiny bronze bust with silver eyes portrays Caligula and dates from around 40 CE It found at Herculaneum.

This bust brings me to an interesting story about the house. Horace Walpole never married so when he died, the house passed to George, the 7th Earl of Waldegrade. George was in debt and sold Walpole's collection to pay that debt. Slowly, over time, some of the items have been found, purchased, and brought back to the house. Many are now in museums and many more are still at large. The bust of Caligula was recently discovered in the Schroder family collection, having been purchased in the 19th century by Baron Sir Henry Schroder.

There was another room in that wing of red and gold, which I think was used as a dining room.

One last room contains portraits (not originals) of the kings and queens of England by Hans Holbein. How many can you name?

The hallway that led to the exit was not ornately gilt, but was impressive in its own right.

Fancy having the patience and skill to create that wooden pattern.

We popped into the cafe for a little lunch and saw that there was a quiz for visitors, so we paid the £1 entry and walked around the gardens singing Christmas carols and looking for clues. Clearly this was meant to be for kids, but so what? I'm not young, but I'm immature, so that must count for something.

When we got back to the cafe to turn in our pencils, the cafe manager rewarded us with hot chocolate for our efforts. We walked out the gate having had a very enjoyable time.