Christmas at Carrick Hill #Christmas #CarrickHill #Adelaide

Carrick Hill in Springfield is a time capsule.  Bequeathed to the Government of South Australia by the owners, Sir Edward and Lady Ursula Hayward, most of the furniture, art, crockery and even clothing on display belonged to the Haywards.  It passed to the state government in 1983 after Sir Edward's death. In 1986 it was officially opened to visitors as a house museum.

The home was built from 1937 to 1939, following the marriage in 1935 of Edward Hayward and Ursula Barr Smith. During their honeymoon in England the couple bought a large number of pieces (including staircases and panelling) from a Tudor mansion in Staffordshire called Beaudesert that was being demolished at the time. They wanted to re-create a 17th Century manor house in the antipodes. (facts taken from the Carrick Hill brochure)

I visited Carrick Hill on Friday and fittingly, the home was decorated for Christmas.

The central room in the house, boasts the staircase from an English Tudor Mansion.
The house was designed around this staircase.

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Sir Edward Hayward was born into the family who owned the largest department store in the city, John Martin's.  Hayward started the Christmas Pageant during the great depression in 1933. The pageant began with just 8 floats.  In 2015 the pageant boasted 64 floats and 173 sets. The Adelaide Christmas Pageant has become the largest event of its kind in the world, attracting crowds of over 400,000 and televised to millions around the world. (figures via wikipedia)

The central room at ground level, with dining room, library, sitting room, flower room and phone booth running from it.

The dining room decked out for Christmas

The table set for Christmas lunch.

A Frank Brangwyn oil.

 The Haywards extensive art collection is on show. The collection includes Russell Drysdale, William Dobbell, Nora Heysen, John Dowie and many more local and international artists.  Carrick Hill hosts many art exhibitions through-out the year in the upstairs gallery.

Carrick Hill is home to one of the largest collections of William Morris material in Australia.

I adore this kitchen, particularly the aga stove. 

Original crockery of the Haywards.

"Modern" vinyl flooring.

The view from the kitchen window

Breakfast tray

In the days when you just had to have a separate room for taking a phone call. This "phone booth" leads to the cellar.

Bounty in the cellar.

Library

Sitting room

Sitting room with grand piano.. entertainment in the days before television, computers, smart phones and tablets!

The master bedroom

 Fancy some breakfast in bed?

Just one of Ursula's stylish dresses

This bathroom would have been state-of-the-art in the late 1930s. It even had a heated towel rail.

Not a bad view from the bathroom window.

"His" dressing room... and more William Morris.

Polo anyone?

In the next post I'll show you more of Carrick Hill's gardens and the wonderful "The Art of Gardens and Gardening" exhibition running until 31st January 2016.

Sunday morning walk to croquet

St John's Church in Halifax Street.

This morning was one of those beautiful Adelaide mornings.  As I ambled from home to the South Parklands, it was a mild 21 degrees, with a gentle breeze. Magic.

St John's Rectory

Street verges plant to roses, lavender and shrubs.

A pleasant place for a rest along the way.

Past interesting homes.

Home of the French Consul in Adelaide

A beautiful home and grounds

St Corantyn, built in 1891 by Charles Hornabrook.
The home was also owned by Sir John Lavington Boynthon for many years.

Ochiltree House, built in 1882 for John Rounsevell.
The home reflects a Victorian Italianate style with a French influence in the mansard roof.

South Terrace Croquet Club

 And my destination, the South Terrace Croquet Club.  What a lovely relaxed way to spend a Sunday morning.

Perhaps in a future post I'll let you in on the hidden pleasures of croquet.

Vigil against terror

Last night I joined about 500 people at a vigil to mourn the killing of 130 and the injuring of many more people in Paris by terrorists. We gathered on a warm evening at the soldier's memorial park in Unley -  a gentle, peaceful part of the world.

Premier Jay Weatherill and French Ambassador Christophe LeCourtier

We were joined by French expats, the Premier Jay Weatherill, French Ambassador to Australia, Christophe LeCourtier, Governor Hieu Van Le, heads of Christian churches, representatives of the Islamic community in South Australia, and by senior Chinese officials.

Mayor of Unley, Lachlan Clyne

Gisele Blanchard, French expat living in Adelaide, sings the French and Australian National Anthems.

People signing the book of condolence and placing flowers and wreaths.

In multi-culturally diverse Adelaide, where Muslims came to call South Australia home as early as the 19th Century and where the oldest Mosque in Australia stands, where our Governor, himself a Vietnamese refugee, pulled from his childhood memories and sang the words of La Marseillaise, we stood for the values of diversity, tolerance and freedom.

We also stood for the innocents killed in Lebanon and the many thousands of Muslims killed by ISIS terrorists in Syria and elsewhere.  We stood for those impacted by and fleeing from ISIS terror; Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.

I don't know what the answers are. Do we go down the non-violence path preached by Ghandi and Martin Luther King Junior or do we attack ISIS with added force? I'm not sure how the philosophies of Ghandi and Martin Luther King would have stopped previous despots like Hitler or Pol Pot, so perhaps some degree of force to combat this madness is inevitable but there must be a political solution at some point.  I desperately hope our world leaders have the wisdom and capacity to bring this terror to an end soon.

What a ham! #ThePopeyeMurder

The beauty of hand-made #glass. #MegCaslake #DavidPedler

There is something very beautiful about hand-made glass.  These beautiful pieces were given to me by a dear friend who knew I coveted them.  The sugar bowl, milk jug and salt bowl are made by Adelaide glass artist Meg Caslake who collaborates with ceramic artist David Pedler.  They have a hot glass studio at Uraidla in the Adelaide hills and a ceramics studio at Moonta.  Both have either worked at the Jam Factory or exhibited there.  Their work is also available through art images gallery and Kirra Galleries

The colour changes depending on the light

via art images gallery

Some of Meg's other works have a nautical feel.

via art images gallery

Via art images gallery

I have some other favourite pieces.  This orange paperweight was designed and made by Mel Traler.

A few years ago I picked up these venetian glass pieces from a glass factory on the Island of Murano near Venice.

This light-catching bowl was designed by Anna Ehrner and made at the famous Kosta Boda factory in Sweden.

Just a few of my favourite things that brighten-up the day.