Monday, 16 March 2015

Mount Stewart House, Newtownards Being Restored

I have written and photographed about Mount Stewart House and Gardens many times on my blog (See those posts under LABELS RHC) however today I am showing you some photos I took before this beautiful house closed to the public, prior to the final refurbishment of it and its contents.  I have photographed a little bit about the history to put you in the picture.





Mount Stewart has a wonderful collection of painting and this is Robert Stewart, the 1st Marquess and above and his son below.






For me, one of the most remarkable ideas to store many of the paintings was when the chief carpenter turned the Chapel  (which in inside the house)into a three tired building to house them in a controlled atmosphere.  

It will be wonderful to once again see one of the most stunning rooms at Mount Stewart, that being the private 'Chapel'. This hidden gem is a double-height room with stained glass windows and Italian paintings on its walls.


Sorry about the shadow of my arms on the glass in this shot!




 This is a huge painting nearly filling one of the walls in the house and is of Edith, Lady Londonderry (1878–1959) by Philip Alexius de László and Sir John Lavery. Their youngest daughter, Lady Mairi Bury (1921–2009) child with the goat, gave Mount Stewart to the National Trust in 1977, and some of the paintings are on loan from her estate.

 You can see an expert restoring part of  this wonderful painting, in fact that is Lady Mairi.

One of the pieces that took my fancy was this stirrup cup.


These are some of the furniture being stored in the entrance hall of the house.



 Upstairs in some of the the bedrooms, they were restoring curtains and furniture and at the end of this post is a short video were Matthew is explaining a little bit about his work.

 This is the inside of the front door and has a very large key.  I am very excited because on 20 April, Mount Stewart House will be completely renovated and once again, open to the public.
CLICK HERE if the video does not appear below.



The music you hear in the background of the video is coming from a Blue Grass band on the lawn of the house. if you wish to see and hear that on video CLICK HERE

 I hope you enjoyed seeing ’behind the scenes’ at Mount Stewart and when it is re-opened, I will bring you photographs of the restored interior as well as showing you the garden at springtime.

Thank you for visiting and also to those who leave comments.
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16 comments:

  1. Elephant's Child16 March 2015 at 16:18

    What an amazing place. I am really looking forward to seeing it when it has been completely restored - a huge job.

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  2. Margaret Birding For Pleasure16 March 2015 at 17:57

    HI EC Yes it will be very exciting to see what they have done. Thanks for your regular visits and commenets

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  3. Bob Bushell16 March 2015 at 18:31

    Beautiful paintings, a nice place to exhibit them.

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  4. Cath hy16 March 2015 at 21:12

    J'aime beaucoup ton post!
    Cath

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  5. Cath hy16 March 2015 at 21:13

    Je t'invite à venir voir mon nouveau blog !
    Cath.

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  6. John's Island16 March 2015 at 21:59

    Hi Margaret -- Interesting place indeed. Thanks for sharing all the photos. John

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  7. Marcia16 March 2015 at 22:59

    How fascinating. I know you'll be sharing the renovated interior with us very soon.

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  8. EG CameraGirl16 March 2015 at 23:03

    Oh, I do hope you will take photos of what it looks like when it's done. I'm certain you will, actually, and I look forward to seeing them. ;)

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  9. TexWisGirl16 March 2015 at 23:19

    quite an extensive effort to preserving that place and its contents!

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  10. Montanagirl17 March 2015 at 00:18

    I'm going to enjoy seeing the photos you post when this undertaking is finished! What a fabulous place!!

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  11. Janice17 March 2015 at 04:31

    Such an informative and pleasant young man is Matthew! Looking forward to the next installment.

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  12. Ragged Robin17 March 2015 at 05:56

    A really interesting post Margaret. I am looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful house on your blog when it re-opens following restoration.
    ps Hope you don't get this comment twice as I wasn't signed in when I first typed up the comment!

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  13. Ginny Hartzler17 March 2015 at 06:04

    So you did get in before it was closed, And took a few pictures. What an enormous undertaking! But how fortunate that the previous owners had small identification on the doors and such. I hope you will tour through it when it is all done, and show us!

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  14. Sallie (FullTime-Life)17 March 2015 at 08:05

    A beautiful and elegant stately home! Fun you got in before they closed for restoration, it will be great to compare the before and after.

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  15. Stephanie17 March 2015 at 08:20

    Wow, a wonderful tour and the young Matthew with info on the video. Enjoyed the tour and loved seeing the old furniture.

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  16. Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie17 March 2015 at 15:08

    So wonderful that you will be able to take us to see the outcome of the restoration! What a beautiful estate - the paintings, alone, are worth the visit to see! I look forward to the return.

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