Designing Chatsworth House
A visit to Chatsworth House & styling ideas for your own home
On our way to a family wedding, a couple of weeks ago, we stopped off to visit Chatsworth House; the ancestral home of the Devonshire family, dating back to the 1500s, surrounded by beautiful gardens and nestled in the Peak National Park. I grew up nearby, on the edge of the Peak District, and often visited the farm, gardens, and parkland, but it had been a while since I’d been inside the house.
Some things were just as I remembered – the Queen of Scots apartment, stunning art and sculpture collections – but what I hadn’t expected was the quality of the conservation of its interiors, the vast collections of antiques, the library and all the gorgeous decorative touches. And this made me think about the upkeep of the decoration (the actual painting and decorating), the preservation of Georgian wallpapers, the authentic paint colours, and the incredible styling that goes into attracting the huge numbers of visitors from around the globe.
As you enter, through the north entrance hall and into the inner court, you’re immediately surrounded by the splendour of the Painted Hall – the largest and grandest room from the original house, and dating to the 1550s. With its black and white marble floor, richly painted ceiling and left hand wall, you’re led up the richly carpeted Great Stairs to the first floor library and galleries.
Chatsworth has one of the finest English book collections in private hands; and the Jeffry Wyatville dining room (the architect responsible for Longleat and remodelling Windsor Castle) is hung with paintings by Van Dyck, Mytens and Gainsborough.
Libraries, Old Master Paintings and the State Chambers
Chatsworth’s first floor Library houses over 17,000 books covering six centuries. But rather than feel stuffy and academic the large room has a cosy, welcoming feel. Colourful rugs and oversized table lamps add warmth, and the grand marble fireplace is surrounded by armchairs upholstered in green velvet, a pretty satin brocade sofa, and red rose-patterned drapes frame the large windows.
From here, continue up to the second floor to the Music Room, the Old Master Drawing Cabinet and Sketch Galleries. The lights are purposely kept low to protect the drawings and paintings, giving the effect of an 18th century collector’s gallery. Chatsworth’s amazing art collection includes Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Man in Oriental Costume, paintings by Guido Reni, Canaletto and Gainsborough, Caravaggio and Reynolds – all sharing wall space with drawings by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Rubens. The Sketch Rooms lead to the State Drawing Room and Bedchamber with its fabulous collection of antique Chinese porcelain and Delft flower vases.
So much inspiration: Regency furniture, candy striped wallpapers, antique blue and white porcelain, books and more paintings run throughout the second floor. The Library and the Sketch Room, below, inspired Edward Bulmer when creating 24 new paint colours for the Chatsworth House Collection: “entirely usable colours for modern interiors.”
Chatsworth’s light and airy South Sketch Gallery inspired this month’s moodboard above. For striped wallpaper, like the one shown in Pink Slipper and Alderley Edge, by Colours of Arley. Choose your own custom stripes and colourways from their bespoke range. Pretty journals covered in decorative paper from Choosing Keeping, rustic splatterware jug by Sharland England, Miraflores embroidered cushions from Designers Guild and paint by Edward Bulmer for the Chatsworth Collection.
The Scot’s Apartment
In the 1830s, when these bedrooms were converted into fashionable Regency guest rooms, they were decorated with chintzy, sugar-glazed fabrics, silk trimmings and hand-painted Chinese wallpaper. The two rooms, known as the Scot’s Apartment, are named after Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), who sometimes stayed at Chatsworth during her imprisonment at nearby Sheffield Manor.
Inspired by Nature
Collections of decorative geological gems, botanical prints, fabrics, carvings, and hand-painted wallpapers – with bird and flower motifs – are recurring themes from nature that run throughout Chatsworth House. Morris & Co offer a wide range of Victorian inspired chintzy fabrics here, as well as Designers Guild – such as their Primevere embroidered cushion, shown above. The seashell Delft tiles are by Petra Palumbo, here. The Martina floral dinner plates are by Ginori 1735 and are available at Cabana here.
The Sculpture Gallery & The Orangery
Chatsworth’s Sculpture Gallery, which features in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice, houses some of the best sculptors working at the time the gallery was created - between 1818 to 1834. Works by Lorenzo Bartolini, Rudolf Schadow and Antonio Canova. The gallery leads to The Orangery – its floor to ceiling windows look out over the rose garden. This space is now the bookshop and gift shop, stocked with locally made Derbyshire produce, plants grown on the Chatsworth estate and a good selection of books, ceramics and stationery.
Style sheet: Scallop plates by Rebecca Udall, Canova paint by Edward Bulmer, inspired by the marble sculptures at Chatsworth House, Jute Scallop Rug by Daals, roses by David Austin. The Pursuit of Love (published in 1945) by Nancy Mitford, sister of Deborah Mitford, the Duchess of Devonshire, who lived at Chatsworth House from 1959 to 2004 with her husband, the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
The Details…
Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PP
Parking is £10 which also includes access to the parkland and café with great views of the house and gardens.
Entrance to the house and gardens is £33 for standard adult admission. I have an annual National Art Pass which gives free or half price entry to hundreds of galleries, museums and historic houses around the UK. Entrance to the house and garden, using my Art Pass member card, was £15.
Also worth a visit: The Tea Cottage at Edensor on the Chatsworth Estate. Parking is free here and you can stop for lunch, or coffee and cake and stroll around the pretty estate village.
Where to stay: For a special treat stay at The Devonshire Arms – an 18 room country inn on the Chatsworth estate at Beeley. The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow is a former coaching inn with rooms designed by Nicola Harding and two award winning restaurants. The Pilsley Inn (one of my favourites on the Chatsworth estate) at Pilsley, is a gorgeous 18th century coaching inn, also with rooms, and filled with antique furniture from the house at Chatsworth. Stop by for local beer and a pub lunch or venture into nearby Bakewell or west Sheffield for alternatives.
My Picks for August…
August: the holiday month for much of Europe and I’m very much looking forward to a long weekend on the north Norfolk Coast. I’ve already picked up this skirt from Madrid based Sophie + Lucie in their online summer sale. I have my eye on the this necklace at Sessùn and their organic cotton sweatshirts, for cooler evenings, here. This smart wicker duffel bag is perfect for days out at the beach and is available from the White Company, in their summer sale here.
Thank you to all my subscribers for reading Love Vintage Etc. I value and appreciate every one of you being here and I’d love to hear from you in the comments… Tell me what you’d like to see more of, less of, or what you’ve enjoyed the most. I will send a hand written note, with a signed copy of my book Independent Shops London, to the best comment. Until next time, have a lovely start to the new month,
Thank you so much for sharing this! I just got off a Zoom webinar through Her Literary Society, and they had the Duke of Devonshire on and Nicky from Heywood Hill booksshop. I’m so mad that we didn’t go to either when we were in London for the first two times, not this summer, but the two before. They are definitely on my list! I loved reading and seeing your photos. Thank you so much!