Sezincote House

From the comfort of our new living room in Rosemary's Cottage in Blockley, I send this to you using our own wireless Internet connection. Yeahhhhh! Yes, we made the move yesterday with the kind help of our good friends in Stroud. Malcolm came over and helped us move what seemed to us a mountain of stuff. We are now here and the Grahams have safely arrived through the cloud of volcanic ash.
On Friday we took the rather short walk from our place in Moreton to Sezincote House. In the early 1800's a retired military officer named Cockerell, who had spent his career in India, wanted to have a country home that he could use to escape London. He found this parcel of land with sweeping views of the Cotswolds and built his home with the help of a Mr. Daniell and his brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell. He wanted to reflect his Indian experience with architectural similarities to the Taj Mahal and other Indian landmarks. This he did but only on the outside. Inside it is pure Regency.

As you approach the house along the mile long drive, you pass through wood and paddock where a wonderful herd of red cows. I don't know what kind they are. You see a Taj like dome through the trees and then the minarets on the roof. The house has a wonderful orangery on one side and servants' quarters on the other.

As we waited for our 3:30 time slot, we had a great cream tea in the orangery. The gardens are large and beautifully kept by only 3 gardeners. Gravel pathways lead you by flower beds and water features overseen by colourful trees and two bronze elephants put in place by the family to mark the millennium.
The house itself is off limits for photos. The rooms are light and beautifully decorated with antiques. The walls and ceilings are light coloured and use mirrors to give a feeling of space. The main staircase, the first made with decorative cast iron, sweeps up from both sides and turns back on itself to the opposite wall forming a passageway under it. There are lots of windows giving wonderful views of the countryside and the gardens.
The family still live there with small children and open the house for only part of the year.