Grove Place, Hampshire, View from the East Tower
                                                                                                                      Country Life, Nov. 26th, 1904

I wonder what the view is like today.

My darling, your dose of Country Life today is a 16th century Grade I Listed Manor House, which in 1904 was the residence of Colonel Fenwick Bulmer de Sales la Terriere, an officer in the Yeoman of the Guard (appointed Exon in 1902).  Local legend had it that Grove Place was built by or for Queen Elizabeth as a hunting lodge convenient to the New Forest (the whole of the east wing is decorated with her coat of arms) but "like many old houses, it happened on bad times early in the nineteenth century, and fell to being used as a farmhouse.  From this fate it was rescued by its present owners..."

 

"During its occupation by tenant farmers many of the rooms and corridors were divided up by partitions of lath and plaster, most of the old Tudor stone-arched fireplaces had been bricked up, and the hall fireplace was occupied by a kitchen range."  Fortunately, plenty of the old oak panelling remained though much had already been removed during an attempt to modernize the house in 1700.

I find the history of old houses so interesting, don't you?  Imagine being a tenant farmer and sleeping in the place Cate Blanchett/Elizabeth I used to come and visit, if not call home.  And today, if this website is current, Grove Place is a retirement facility for over 60s, with one-bedroom bungalows starting at 195,000 GBP.  Which is something of a coincidence, as Bianca and I were just talking yesterday about where we'd like to spend our twilight years, if we end up having any choice in the matter. 

On top of which, just to show you how connected and relevant everything is, Jim and I went to see a movie yesterday afternoon about a bank loan officer who forecloses on the house of an old gypsy woman.  [Spoiler alert: it is extremely ill-advised to foreclose on an old gypsy].  I found Drag Me To Hell a thoroughly enjoyable film, especially as a morality tale about the current economic crisis.  Using the Doheny Mansion as one of the pivotal locations further underscores the point that, in the fantasy-fulfilling world of film at least, justice does prevail, and even so-called "innocent" young people, caught up in their ambition, must pay the price.  You will recall that the Teapot Dome Scandal exposed Doheny and his cohorts in their corporate shenanigans during the Harding administration, which until the most recently ended administration had been the most corrupt presidency the nation had ever endured.  How satisfying then, on a symbolic and subliminal level, to be reminded by Sam Raimi that there is still a place greedy people can end up going.  Or dragged, as the case may be, kicking and screaming.  

And here's a wonderful site, especially for you Michigan folks (like Sam), which documents another side of the story, whether you're an old gypsy woman or not:

100 abandoned houses