BLACKWELL 



THIS house in the Lake District is chiefly noticeable for its large central hall, 

 in a recessed portion of" which a billiard table is placed. The principal 

 feature in this hall is the great ingle fireplace with its open hearth and seats, 

 and over this a little stair, with stone-vaulted roof, leads to a small chamber 

 overlooking the hall. From the front entrance a broad and low corridor 

 gives access to drawing-room, dining-room, and kitchen premises, without 

 infringing on the hall itself, so that it never becomes a passage-room. The 

 first floor and attic floor give ample bedroom accommodation. In the 

 adornment of this house it was specially desired that the mountain ash 

 should form the subject for decoration, and this appears in the form of 

 carving, leaded glass, plaster-work, and stencilling in the various rooms. 



Two of the most important features in the metal-work are the 

 drawing-room grate and hall electric light pendant. In each of these 

 the ironwork is brightened by white enamelled flowers and scarlet berries. 



j J 



In the carved trees, which appear in the staircase screen and on the hall 

 ingle, birds' nests are interwoven in the branches and birds flutter amongst 

 the leaves and fruit. In the brackets to the lower beams and in the bosses 

 to the ceiling various local plants are represented. One is entwined with 

 bryony, another shows the blooms of the wild guelder-rose, while the bloom 

 and berries of the hawthorn and the wild rose are amongst the features of the 

 carving. The same variety of carving occurs in the white drawing-room, 

 where, in the capitals to slender columns, the foliage and branches of various 

 trees are represented. 



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