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Path: Photos > England > London and Around > Eltham Palace - 1930s Mansion with a Twist
Tags: UK  England  London  EnglishHeritage  2022  StatelyHome

Eltham Palace - 1930s Mansion with a Twist

 

(vero;2022-Feb-05)

We enjoyed visiting Eltham Palace, an odd mix of Old and New. What impressed us most was the smooth amalgam of styles: one goes through the 1st floor and its luxurious art-déco bedrooms, walk along a corridor, open the door at its end and finds oneself looking down on the unbelievable medieval Great Hall. Wow.

Check our blog article to learn more about the place and the Courtaulds who salvaged it from ruin.

The circular entrance hall designed by the Swedish designer Rolf Engströmer. It is the pivot of the modern residence. Well-lit thanks to the ingenious glass dome, it is adorned with marqueted wood panels and gives access to both wings of the house. The stairs are leading to the bedrooms. The pink rug with its geometric patterns is covering a wooden dancing floor. Photo © Nathan Williams, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Detail of the marquetry of the entrance hall: a Roman soldier (left) and a Viking (right) stand alert on each side of the main door. Detail of the marquetry in the entrance hall: on the right side of the door (the Viking's side), featuring background scenes from Scandinavia. There is a similar panel but with scenes from Italy on the other side of the door (the Roman's side). Ginie's bedroom. The door on the right of the bed leads to the en-suite bathroom. Ginie's bathroom, all marble and gold fittings. The tiled alcove is also gold plated… Detail of Ginie's bath-tube. Even Ginie's telephone is golden. The others in the house are simply black. Stephen's room is much more sober, the walls covered with wood panels. The bedrooms are on the upper floor, each one opening onto a central corridor. The door at the end of the corridor opens up to the upper gallery of the Great Hall: a stunning surprise. This gallery is called the minstrel gallery as the Great Hall was intended to be foremost a music and entertaining room. The wooden roof structure of the Great Hall, fully renovated by the Courtaulds. Part of it got damaged during German air raids in September 1940. Back on the ground floor, this is the Italian drawing room. Detail of the Italian drawing room. Note the decorative plaster panels in the window enclosures by Gilbert Ledward. Black and silver door of the dining room featuring exotic animals drawn from life at the London Zoo. Close-up of the head of a monkey as featured on the dining room door (see previous photo). The map room: English Heritage has discovered the wall-papered maps during recent renovation works. This is the study where the Courtaulds prepared their travels. Note the casement in the wall: the house had an internal speaker system so that music could be heard in every room. This is where the loudspeaker of the map room was. Map of London in the map room. Bookcase cum sofa in the boudoir. Lacquered panels in Chinese style in the ground floor corridor leading to the Great Hall. Lacquered panels in Chinese style in the ground floor corridor leading to the Great Hal. The dining room with its aluminium leafed ceiling above the table, designed to shimmer in the candle light to evoke a starry night. The Great Hall as accessed from the garden with a view towards the minstrel gallery upstairs. The door to the left leads into the modern residence. Detail of the Great Hall. Stained glass was added to the hall windows in 1936 by George Kruger. The windows on the photo are dedicated to Edward IV and his queen Elizabeth; their coats of arm are shown on the left and they are represented on the right. Note the keystones of the ceiling: the one in the middle is representing the head of Mah-Jongg, the pet lemur of the Courtaulds (see next photo for a close-up). Close-up of a keystone of the Great Hall: this is Mah-Jongg, chiselled here for eternity.

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$ updated from: London and Around.htxt Sun 24 May 2026 15:57:34 trvl2 — Copyright © 2026 Vero and Thomas Lauer unless otherwise stated | All rights reserved $