Aungier House Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aungier_mods) wrote2013-06-13 11:39 am
aungier_mods) wrote2013-06-13 11:39 am
Descriptions: Aungier Estate
AUNGIER ESTATE DESCRIPTIONS
1. Aungier House
Aungier House itself was constructed in 1689, and though much of the original house was lost to a fire in the mid 1700s, what is left of the mansion is nonetheless astonishingly decadent. In the summer sunshine the clean, angular architecture seems the height of stately elegance and the gardens blaze with colour. On the altogether more common grey morning, however, Aungier House often seems to vanish into the misty moors only to sudden lurch forth from the gloom, its heights taking on a more menacing face.
The statue garden is found to the rear of the mansion. Visually, Aungier House is based on the real mansion Audley End House (albeit with an extra floor) and reference may be found here.
2. Service Wing
The service wing may be found just a little to the North of the building and houses the kitchen, the scullery (for washing kitchenwares and cutlery), the laundry (for washing clothes), the dairy (for producing cheese and butter), the dry larder and the game larder (for storing game birds and hares).
3. The Gardens (North Rose Garden and South Oriental Garden)
Aungier House used to boast two beautifully kept walled gardens: the rose garden to the North and the "Oriental" garden to the south. Over time they have fallen into disrepair and many of the plants have started to run rampant, but they still make for lovely viewing. The rose garden is made up of arranged hedgerows, half-crumbled walls and riotous rose beds that can often make the place feel curiously dense and claustrophobic, but with the intense privacy it offers (and the old swing) it is nonetheless often considered the place for trysts. The Oriental garden is a little more open and arranged and centered around a large pond, filled with glistening gold carp. There are several benches arranged artfully in the shade, once perfect for a lady to lounge on and read in peace.
4. Hedgerow Maze
The hedgerow maze was constructed in the early 1800s, but has since fallen into disrepair. At its heart is a small dried-up fountain of Adonis gazing at his reflection. One of the largest in the North of England, perhaps one of the reasons it fell out of favour was the odd atmosphere complained of by those who attempted to navigate its twists and turns; "When one turns a corner in there," Lord Valdemar's mother once said, with a haunted look, "one feels that the world behind them, upon glancing around, might not be there."
5. Stables
The stable block not only houses the horses used around the estate but its various carriages, too. There is a large show area, for practise riding and exercising the horses.
6. Gates
7. Folly
8. Groundskeeper's Cottage
The groundkeeper's cottage is a small, humble affair overlooking the gates, but he is nonetheless well provided for. The hearth is small but hearty and the rooms are carefully furnished with everything its occupants might need.
9. The Hothouse
Once a conservatory, in the last ten years Lord Valdemar has had it converted into a hothouse, carefully built to his own exacting designs to contain a huge variety of exotic plants and flowers. The glass walls and windows are almost always misty with condensation, and beyond them the inside is a blur of dark green splashed with the poisonous acid colours of the flora and fauna cared for within. Usually, it is locked and considered off-limits without Lord Valdemar's express permission.
10. Gamekeeper's Cottage
1. Aungier House
Aungier House itself was constructed in 1689, and though much of the original house was lost to a fire in the mid 1700s, what is left of the mansion is nonetheless astonishingly decadent. In the summer sunshine the clean, angular architecture seems the height of stately elegance and the gardens blaze with colour. On the altogether more common grey morning, however, Aungier House often seems to vanish into the misty moors only to sudden lurch forth from the gloom, its heights taking on a more menacing face.
The statue garden is found to the rear of the mansion. Visually, Aungier House is based on the real mansion Audley End House (albeit with an extra floor) and reference may be found here.
2. Service Wing
The service wing may be found just a little to the North of the building and houses the kitchen, the scullery (for washing kitchenwares and cutlery), the laundry (for washing clothes), the dairy (for producing cheese and butter), the dry larder and the game larder (for storing game birds and hares).
3. The Gardens (North Rose Garden and South Oriental Garden)
Aungier House used to boast two beautifully kept walled gardens: the rose garden to the North and the "Oriental" garden to the south. Over time they have fallen into disrepair and many of the plants have started to run rampant, but they still make for lovely viewing. The rose garden is made up of arranged hedgerows, half-crumbled walls and riotous rose beds that can often make the place feel curiously dense and claustrophobic, but with the intense privacy it offers (and the old swing) it is nonetheless often considered the place for trysts. The Oriental garden is a little more open and arranged and centered around a large pond, filled with glistening gold carp. There are several benches arranged artfully in the shade, once perfect for a lady to lounge on and read in peace.
4. Hedgerow Maze
The hedgerow maze was constructed in the early 1800s, but has since fallen into disrepair. At its heart is a small dried-up fountain of Adonis gazing at his reflection. One of the largest in the North of England, perhaps one of the reasons it fell out of favour was the odd atmosphere complained of by those who attempted to navigate its twists and turns; "When one turns a corner in there," Lord Valdemar's mother once said, with a haunted look, "one feels that the world behind them, upon glancing around, might not be there."
5. Stables
The stable block not only houses the horses used around the estate but its various carriages, too. There is a large show area, for practise riding and exercising the horses.
6. Gates
7. Folly
8. Groundskeeper's Cottage
The groundkeeper's cottage is a small, humble affair overlooking the gates, but he is nonetheless well provided for. The hearth is small but hearty and the rooms are carefully furnished with everything its occupants might need.
9. The Hothouse
Once a conservatory, in the last ten years Lord Valdemar has had it converted into a hothouse, carefully built to his own exacting designs to contain a huge variety of exotic plants and flowers. The glass walls and windows are almost always misty with condensation, and beyond them the inside is a blur of dark green splashed with the poisonous acid colours of the flora and fauna cared for within. Usually, it is locked and considered off-limits without Lord Valdemar's express permission.
10. Gamekeeper's Cottage