Neues Palais, Potsdam

Under heavy renovation and possibly finished by 2016, The Neues Palais (or new palace) in Potsdam is one of the more impressive structures in the area. Parts of Potsdam are basically a suburb of immense palaces, now nearly all museums.  There are many excellent books available on the many palaces and the area itself.

The Neues Palais wasn't meant as a home for the King when it was completed in 1769 but rather as official state apartments for entertaining other royals and ambassadors. Therefore it was built to impress and not necessarily be very homey for the monarch who retained a small apartment in the palace.

Opposite the palace (above) are the Communs (seen below), creating an entry courtyard. The Communs held the kitchens, service spaces, and offices for the palace - a sort of 'downstairs' if you will. The king had underground passages built connect the Palais to the Communs so servants could get between the buildings unseen but also undeterred by weather.

The ornate interiors are astounding. Designed in the Baroque style favored by the king they're beginning to show traces of upcoming Neoclassicism. Frederick the Great didn't like the strict lines of Neoclassicism so you have to look hard though!

The palace was originally designed by Johann Gottfried Buring.  Buring had completed other buildings in Potsdam for the king but was fired from the job after it was started after disagreements on the palace facade. Perhaps Buring wanted to bring in the 'new' Neoclassicm.

 I don't know, I think some of the rooms look pretty Neoclassical to me, wouldn't you agree? They could have been remodeled at a later date.

 The floors in the palace are stunning. The parquet floor above looks absolutely modern to my eyes.

 Carl von Gontard took over construction of the palace after Buring's dismissal.

 The salon above is really interesting -I love how the treatment continues to the ceiling.

Almost a sort of garden room. Also notice the modern light fixtures which are hung holding all of the modern necessities like security.

While these modern fixtures might seem strange to some, I like that they don't damage any of the delicate walls and finishes and stand separate and discreet as their own 'thing'. Europeans do this exceptionally well.

 More gorgeous parquet floors, almost like fine furniture.

 After awhile all of these grand rooms start to look the same; gold, gold, and more gold.

 I think we need to bring back the use of bed niches.

I imagine particularly in the 18th century Germany the alcoves felt really cozy and warm before central heating.

 More gorgeous painted paneling - chinoiserie here. No gold here!

The palace was later used by successive monarchs as a full time residence and it was therefore renovated with modern conveniences. I love the Victorian heat grate above.

But not all of the rooms are gold. A number of rooms are silver gilded like the bedroom below. I suppose the silver would reflect candlelight just as well if not better than the gold gilding.

As always thanks so much to my Australian penpal Neil for supplying us with these gorgeous images from his travels. If you find yourself in Berlin a visit out to Potsdam is really heavily encouraged: read more about visiting Potsdam palaces here.

Couch vs. sofa - a dialogue

I was thrilled to have lunch recently with one of my favorite bloggers, The Blue Remembered Hills, while he was traveling through DC. As so often happens when bloggers meet for the first time we began chatting at once like old friends and eventually the topic naturally veered towards design.

Both of us have 'pet peeves' with wordage, his being the incorrect use of the word couch instead of sofa (mine is the incorrect use of home vs. house). Above you see the famous couch of Madame Recamier.

The term sofa is what we normally are talking about, the article of furniture found in everyone's living room. It's not a 'formal' term or interchangeable with couch -they are DIFFERENT things. A couch is a specific term reserved for pieces of furniture on which one lies. I immediately thought of Madame Recamier, so well known for having been painted in repose by numerous artists.

While in the Louvre on my last visit I loved Madame Recamier's furniture made for her by Georges Jacob as well as 2 very well known paintings of her, in which she is lying on a couch.

 The rest of her furniture is really beautiful and I just had to have an excuse to post!

In the future think of Madame Recamier on her couch and the sofa you have at home; unless you have a fainting couch or daybed, well then that's another story!

Glamorgan Castle, Alliance Ohio

 image by don0626 on Flickr

One of my favorite parts of traveling, particularly in the northeast and midwest, is that you never know what you may stumble upon house-wise. Every city or town no matter the size has its area of inspiring houses.

Recently I was in Alliance, Ohio, and stumbled upon a castle. The castle seen here isn't in Wales or Scotland this is small town America!

Glamorgan Castle was built in 1904 by Cleveland architect Willard Hirsh for the Morgan family. Col. Morgan sent Hirsh to travel Wales and study medieval castles to come up with an original design for the family. I wish I could find a client like that!

I was recently reading about porte cocheres on Things that Inspire and this is an impressive example she could have added to her post!

I've never seen such a large porte cochere before, particularly one with a flight of steps up to the front door.

Don't let the scale fool you -this front door is massive.

This enormous ornate 'door knocker' actually isn't a knocker at all but merely decorative. I suppose with a butler in residence a knocker wasn't necessary.

The walls are built of a Vermont marble and the tiles appear to be Ludowici clay tiles which are still manufactured in nearby Ohio.

The upkeep on the property is phenomenal. For the past 20 years the castle has been home to the local Alliance school district. Tours are given on Fridays but unfortunately I just missed it.

The details were all astounding. Not only for their quality (and that they still exist) but also for shear scale.

 These large marble scuppers are found all over the house; probably a copy of medieval originals.

I imagine that the master bedroom is high in the main tower;  Thats where I'd want mine!

 The front door leads one through an enclosed loggia with a crest of the family over the entrance.

These large patinated bronze light posts may be missing their original globes (and sport much too small replacements) but are still impressive.

Based on what I could find online the interior is sadly un-inspired if grand and well preserved. No quirky 'castle' influence mars the period 1905 interiors unlike at Doylestown PA at Mercer and Fonthill.

As an example of the good job that Alliance is doing on preservation the worn marble steps on the kitchen side entrance have been replaced with identical new white marble slabs; Heart warming attention to detail! According to their website they are trying to raise money for the rewiring of original light fixtures. This is the kind of preservation I like to see!

If you find yourself passing through Ohio don't forget to schedule a trip to Glamorgan Castle!

Turkish Pavilion at Schwetzingen

 Located in the gardens of the Schwetzingen Palace complex (along with the Bathing Pavilion and the Temple of Apollo of which I've blogged) is an unusual structure referred to as the Turkish Pavilion.

Designed by French architect Nicolas de Pigage in 1779, the Pavilion was completed two years later and has recently been totally restored and opened to the public.

Designed primarily as a backdrop to the gardens where concerts were held, the building was later sometimes used by the Islamic community as a Mosque.

A large walled loggia surrounds the concert lawn with interesting Turkish inspired detailing.

The building is strictly European with many sort of "Turkish" bits glued on and the end result is totally of its' time. Think of this as Turkish Chinoiserie; not quite a copy but a European version of the original.

 The details such as the arches look almost Gothic in parts.

 The gardens are in the beautiful English style.

 Notice the brick floor patterns of the loggia.

 The Pavilion does have a small interior and again no detail was over looked.

 Beautiful carved stone is classically European with nods to the Turkish style.

The centerpiece is a large room rising up through the room with a gorgeous domed ceiling allowing light to flood inside.

 The polychromed work is playful without being too over the top.

 Many thanks as always to Neil for providing these luscious photographs to inspire us!