To Marry an English Lord by Gail Maccoll

Author:Gail Maccoll
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780761171980
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Published: 1989-10-10T11:00:00+00:00

All the American money in the world couldn’t make Gordonstoun cheerful.

* * *

When he finally inherited Kedleston in 1916, George Curzon embarked on a renovation program that included installing bathrooms. With characteristic attention to detail, he lay down in all the bathtubs (first lining them with newspaper) to make sure they were long enough.

* * *

Below: Duchess of Roxburghe May Goelet, painted by Edward Hughes.

Above: Floors Castle, the Innes-Ker family seat, where some of May’s coroneted Red and table linens are still in use.

The same is true at Floors Castle, which the Duchess of Roxburghe, May Goelet, completely transformed. The red damask with which she covered the walls of the Needle Room, the pale pink brocade upholstery’ in the main salon, the gilding, paneling and, most important, Brussels tapestries that her mother had carted to Ochre Court every summer—these remain as luxurious-looking as ever.

Sometimes the decorating techniques employed by the American aristocrats—scavenging from the Old World to furnish the New—were put to good use by American heiress châtelaines. Mary Smith, niece and heiress of the famous financier “Chicago” Smith, married, in 1887, a solicitor from Scotland named George Cooper and lived quietly enough in Elgin until she inherited £4 million. The Coopers then bought a town house in Grosvenor Square and Hursley Park in Hampshire, which they proceeded to enlarge and renovate. In the ballroom, the boiseries (French wall carvings) came from art dealer Joseph Duveen and framed the inevitable set of Boucher tapestries. The Inner Hall was paneled with woodwork from the chapel at Winchester College (since returned to Winchester), while the boudoir paneling came from a house in Yorkshire. The drawing room was all white and gold, with cornices and columns and pilasters, mirrored doors and brocade armchairs, chandeliers and a few pieces of priceless porcelain. It could have been the drawing room of any nouveau riche in the United States or in England. In the end, the American heiress with sufficient worldly goods was able to refashion her surroundings. She could achieve a truce with the servants and physical comfort, perhaps even elegance in the family home. But all the piped-in hot water in the world might not make her happy as an English noblewoman. That, the most important adjustment, depended entirely on her inner resources.

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