Posted by Peter Ceresole on June 08, 2014 at 14:51:29 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Ransome's Sketch - Re: Beckfoot Layout posted by Duncan on June 08, 2014 at 13:09:23:
It is undoubtedly grander than the Beckfoot in my head (even Belle Grange is possibly a little grander than the imagined one) but it looks very like some of the illustrations (particularly the small chapter-header ones).
That similarity would probably be because, although it's far too grand for Beckfoot, the style is very much of its time, and any medium prosperous chap building a house out there would want it to look like the grander houses, even if on a reduced scale. There were quite a few features, like window frames and windows, which would be available from builders' catalogues, which would consciously be derived from high style houses. In the interior shots, there are fires, in fireplaces that look as though they come from the same manufacturer, or the same catalogue, as the ones in our 1900 London inner suburb. And entire house plans were available off the shelf for building medium and lower grade houses, and in a given district they would look quite similar. Where we live in South London, there is a mix of house sizes, between two bedrooms up to five or six, all built by different builders (the average would build six houses, sell them and move on) but the houses are of a remarkable visual consistency, fairly jerry built (we all know this extremely well from experience) but are remarkably nice to look at and delightful to live in.
Incidentally, looking at the video, in the shot looking down the stairs, I think that there's a glimpse of the entrance, but no lobby...