S14E03: Historic Houses

Join Jenny, Kloe and Liz as they explore historic houses across the world, their unique charms, and quirky challenges. Phedra whisks us away to a sun-soaked historic house museum in Cyprus, while Liz delves into the meticulous conservation efforts at Sir John Soane’s Museum with Jane Wilkinson. Finally, Kloe has a chat with Helen Antrobus about what it’s like working in the National Trust.

00:00:28 What’s a historic house?
00:03:18 Are all of them posh?
00:07:03 Nature and heritage in harmony
00:09:30 Our favourites
00:16:30 Jenny feels like an alien
00:23:14 Mitigating damage
00:24:56 Houses still in use
00:31:12 Challenges and temptations
00:37:21 What era are we interpreting or preserving?
00:40:57 Pests and damp patches
00:44:28 Patreon shout out
00:45:00 Interview with Jane Wilkinson
00:56:00 Phedra’s visit to Lefkara
01:07:17 Interview with Helen Antrobus

Show Notes:
– National Trust: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
– NT annual report Jenny quoted: https://documents.nationaltrust.org.uk/story/annual-report-2023/page/1
– Historic Houses (UK): https://www.historichouses.org/
– Rembrandt House, Amsterdam: https://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/
– Kettles Yard, Cambridge: https://www.kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk/history-of-kettles-yard/
– Pollok House, Glasgow: https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/pollok-house-major-refurbishment
– FAI or the National Trust for Italy: https://fai-international.org/
– Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: https://www.gardnermuseum.org/
– Gawthorpe Hall, Ightenhill: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/liverpool-lancashire/gawthorpe-hall
– Chatsworth, Bakewell: https://www.chatsworth.org/
– Yin Yu Tang at Peabody Essex Museum: https://www.pem.org/yin-yu-tang-a-chinese-home
– St Fagans National Museum of History in Wales: https://museum.wales/stfagans/
– Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, in England: https://www.beamish.org.uk/
– Museo Horne: https://www.museohorne.it/en/
– Holker Hall in Cumbria: https://www.holker.co.uk/
– West Dean College: https://www.westdean.ac.uk/
– Barnes foundation move in Philadelphia: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/14/arts/design/judge-rules-the-barnes-can-move-to-philadelphia.html
– S10E04 Halloween special with haunted properties: https://thecword.show/2021/10/28/s10e04-halloween-special/
– Old World Wisconsin: https://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/
– Sir John Soane’s Museum: https://www.soane.org/
– The book mentioned by Liz: https://shop.soane.org/collections/books-and-maps/products/a-complete-description-of-sir-john-soanes-museum-24
– The Local Museum of Traditional Embroidery and Silversmith-work, Lefkara (for the virtual tour!): https://larnakaregion.com/directory/product/local-museum-traditional-embroidery-and-silversmith-work-lefkara
– S10E02 Working with Curators: https://thecword.show/2021/09/29/s10e02-working-with-curators/
– Visiting the National Trust conservation studios: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/search?type=place&query=conservation
– Hidden Treasures of the National Trust on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001lttx

Support us on Patreon!

Hosted by Liz Hébert, Kloe Rumsey, and Jenny Mathiasson.

Intro and outro music by DDmyzik, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

A Wooden Dice production, 2024.