Snowdrops, a Fairy House and Puffballs at Hardwick House

The day after I arrived in Yorkshire Melly took me to Hardwick Hall on a lovely late February day.

Snowdrops were in bloom everywhere.

Puffballs hidden behind a large wall.

A fairy house, with laundry hanging up:

A pheasant.  A first for me!

Looking at Melly's House: part 6 Shapes and Proportions

Once you live with these beautiful windows you absorb lessons in geometry and harmony, scale, symmetry and variation to either copy or ignore at will.  At least, that's what I've found.

Proportions and the right shapes in just the right place

Looking at Melly's House part 5: Cut-outs in the Wooden Stairway

Another feature that Makes Melly's house unique are the geometric cut-outs that have been carved into the wooden rails and newel posts as you make your way upstairs, not to mention the way light splashes down the different angles created by a number of archways:

 

Looking at Melly's House part 3: Entryway and Living Room

Melly's stained glass is extraordinary, and is featured in nearly every room.  It's even hidden in an airing cupboard.  Here it is casting its glow in the front entryway, an otherwise windowless corridor.

As a skylight,

 

Stained glass brings light from the top of the house down through the staircase to spill on to the entry hall.

The Front Door

It takes the form of an iris with the proportions of an angel in the living room.

  Count the different shades and textures of green.

The Study Downstairs:

Beautifully rare blue bits of glass

Book cupboard doors are clear, but no less beautiful.

Looking at Mellys House part 4: Upstairs Bedrooms

Upstairs, the stained glass brightens three bedrooms as well as the hallway, and the aforementioned airing cupboard.

 In my room...

The Hallway:

The spare room:

 Melly's room...

Extraordinary variation in purple hues and textures.

Built-in Cupboards and Shelves Above the Fireplace

Looking at Melly's House part 2: Sitting Room

If you ask Melly she will tell you she bought this house for the stained glass.  It's easy to see why:

In a single room that overlooks the back yard flowers of different, specific types run around the upper perimeter.  

The room itself is a beautiful shape, forming two separate alcoves that jut outwards, capturing every beam of morning sun, all the raindrops on a stormy day.

Looking at Melly's House part 1: Bathroom tiles

Handpainted fish tiles in Mel's bathroom.  It takes a while to warm to these colors...the speckles are lovely and bumpy to run your hands over.  I'm not sure when they were painted.  The 1940s?