165 Eaton Place Style

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The Before

The After

all images from the BBC, BBC one, Masterpiece Theatre or the links at the end of this story

the Place-Eaton Place

the Decoration

& decorating by the book, it's almost as if Lady Agnes turned the pages.

for her 165 Eaton Place Style

Dorthy Draper at l. , The Greenbrier Resort decorated by Dorothy Draper, r.

There is undoubtedly something- about it. 

165 makes me think DRAPER.
Oddly there is very little evidence of the British designers of the period like Syrie Maugham at 165. I think it is safe to say, the Lady (Agnes) of the house did the decorating herself.

 urban electric's dorothy

there's even something like this-there.

Watch the full episode. See more Masterpiece.

another shot of Draper

image: South Florida Sentinel

Mike Stocker

Here we have the cast of the new episodes of Upstairs Downstairs.
I couldn't wait. Should we have to wait? Dreadful that the series doesn't start in the states til mid April. The story begins with the opening up of the old Bellamy Mansion at 165 Eaton Place and the three episodes encompass the death of the King- the coming of King Edward VIII-Wallis Simpson-Abdication- World War II-and all the intrigues of- ups and downs of -those living under the roof of 165.

Happily, Rose- yes, that is the original Rose Burk, played by series creator Jean Marsh, is back at 165 holding it together along with another sort of Original- Lady Holland played by Dame Eileen Atkins.  Eileen Atkins along with Marsh were the creators of the original Upstairs Downstairs. The original produced 68 episodes from 1971-1975 and  it's back and it's good, very good- better than Downton Abbey. Perhaps it is Rose that makes it connect-she was and again is- the heart and soul of the story.

The Cast at 165 Eaton Place

A List from Masterpiece Theatre here

Residing at 165 Upstairs & Down

The Ladies who run the show- Lady Maude l, Rose r

Maud, Lady Holland is the spark that sets fire to Eaton Place. She will be likely-the unforgettable character of the series. Maud returns to England just in time to upset the arrangements her daughter in law- Lady Agnes played by Keeley Hawes  is making  to dazzle her guests and new husband Sir Hallam handsomely played by Ed Stoppard. There is more than meets the eye there I'll tell you!  Lady Holland selects the best rooms with plans to dictate her memoirs of the Raj to her -of course-most elegant Indian secretary Mr Amanjit.  Uptight Lady Agnes is attempting to get the hang of things, while Lady Holland is stealing every scene with quirky -but stylish clothes, having adopted a Lady of the world wardrobe, Indian saris styled as evening clothes.  Be still my heart.

Lady Maud's Wardrobe

(would love to have it)

 South Indian Brocade Sarees  Pre Independence India, c. 1930.

handwoven Indian silk by sophisticated artisans in British services 

(from my collection of textiles)

The Glamour

watch Wallis make an appearance

When she was just Mrs. Simpson

 quote from the blog Beyond the Pale's Miss Nightingale 

"It’s a very particular British kind of glamour – all aristocratic complexions, matte lipstick, clicky heels and that clipped Mitford-esque brittleness which defines the period for me."

 

  the Mitford Sisters look on 

The Eaton Place Sisters

 Lady Agnes and Lady Persie

 

 even the hypnotic  'glamour' of the Fascist Oswald Mosley-who Lady Persie becomes infatuated with-

Oswald Mosley

Lady Persie

ART DECO

 Decoration

All up to the minute furniture of the Art Deco period fills the drawing room-and that is full of fret work moldings on the walls. While the paintings remain of another era and sofas are bursting with down, damask patterns of velvet and full tilt brush fringes (the scenes above)

above & below

all Art Deco pieces from 1st dibs &

Maison Gerard

The new episodes- alas there are only THREE- but I hope many more are to come. It is already a feast for the eyes.

Solomon

devotee of sweet tea,  thick-cut marmalade & the occasional maraschino cherry

all to our particular taste

LINKS

this is an all encompassing blog about every wonderful Period Film- you need to keep up here
everything about the new Upstairs Downstairs at Enchanted Serenity Period Films here
updown.org here 
Maison Gerard here
prettily put together at Beyond the Pale here  & here
full casts- the first and the second here
BBC
BBC talks to production designer Eve Stewart here
 Draper here
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how she lives

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the sisters

Deborah, affectionately called Debo, wearing the jodhpurs amongst her Mitford sisters

that she adored them and still does-is evident.

Debo-also known as Deborah Vivien Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, née The Hon. Deborah Freeman-Mitford, in her much written about, and awaited memoir, did not adhere to the credo of her paternal grandfather, Lord Redesdale: 'Looking back, I claim the privilege of the sun-dial, and among the hours record only the serene.' That decision to tell much about herself -the last of the six celebrated Mitford sisters, yet still hold some things so dear or so private to herself tells her readers much. Her erudite sister, Nancy, nicknamed her Nine-a reference to her mental age, is proof her published sisters would have been surprised at the number of her own published books, beginning at age 60.

the supermodel granddaughter

Darling Paddy,
Stella came. We had to be together in a photo for Vogue's 90th birthday come Christmas. So one Mario Testino(1) famous photographer, came in a helicopter with a crew of makeup, hairdresser, “fashion editor”, etc from London.
I've got a really beautiful dress, grand evening, given me by Oscar de la Renta, so that was my kit. They bound Stella's legs, up to where they join her body, in tartan. A Union Jack flag hung from her waist & her top was what my father would have called meaningless.
Hair skewbald/piebald, all colours & stuck up in bits. THEN they produced “shoes” with 6 inch heels. More stilts - she could hardly put one foot in front of the other, wobbling & toppling.
We looked just like that Grandville drawing of a giraffe dancing with a little monkey. I was the monkey.
Much love
Debo
(this letter from In Tearing Haste: Letters Between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor, John Murray)

Mario Testino photograph from Vogue 2004

"My Grandmother can carry anything off"

- Stella Tennant

"Nancy and Diana introduced me to the fashion world and Stella keeps me in touch. Philip Treacy is charming and so is Oscar de la Renta. I still wear a short Givenchy dress from 1958."

"her pearls"

"Do admit one gets hold of some odd people in Life’s Rich Tapestry."


"People who work the land are who I like and admire more than any others."


"Oh, don’t speak about Elvis,Wasn’t he wonderful? I never became a fan until after he was dead, otherwise I would have been a stalker."

“I find this guessing about the sex life of friends or relations tiresome in the extreme,”

"Happiness is very rare and totally overrated.I think you are only really happy for short periods of the day, or of your life. I wish people wouldn’t go on about it as it’s awfully hard on those who think there is this elusive thing.
Oh I wish I could tell Diana that, she’d laugh so much."

“I have 17 great-grandchildren and they’re not a bit interested. They say: ‘Oh no, not that story again, please don’t tell us anymore’.”

the current digs- the Old Vicarage,Edsenor

a jaunty apple green entry

WoI image

 WWD- Simon Upton image

 the sitting room

largely furnished with furnishings from the Chatsworth attics, her own drawings,

paintings and sculptures, with other paintings loaned from Chatsworth,  

with decorating assistance from David Mlinaric

(World of Interiors image)

a table skirt with JJ Grandville animal caricatures embroidered by Chatsworth volunteers

(Nancy Lancaster had a painted Grandville table skirt in her rooms too- HERE)

the dining room

WWD-Simon Upton photograph

the portrait

 to see the Lucian Freud portrait Woman in White 1956-1957 go to the Athenaeum HERE

 When Andrew went to see the finished picture at Freud’s studio, there were two men there, one of whom, looking at the painting, asked him, ‘Who is this woman?’ ‘My wife,’ Andrew replied. ‘Well, thank God it’s not mine,’ the man said.

Debo thinks that the older she gets, the more like the picture she becomes. ‘Lucian’s great and extraordinary talent when he was doing that style of painting is making a person aged 34 look like I do now, and I’m 90. You know, yellow skin, green mustache. So funny.’

the new book

&  “The book is called ‘Wait For Me’ and is just about my life, my whole life…it’s getting rather long now!”


and hear her in conversation recently while she was in New York- 

read more about the Duchess' new book at the STYLE SALONISTE HERE

sources:
WWD HERE
World of Interiors September 2010
Patrick Lee Fermor's  blog HERE

Nancy Mitford A Memoir- Harold Acton
the Times Deborah Devonshire
the Telegraph HERE
Vogue US- November 2010
Vogue US 2006
Chatsworth.org

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