March 7, 2014

Tatty/Divine

Tatty Devine is actually the name of a jewellery company in the UK, but it’s an expression that I like to use when something’s both kind of ragged, but fabulous. Sort of like rough-luxe. I saw a house on-line which exemplified the expression perfectly.

The house is actually pretty divine – an old Georgian outside the terrific city of Bristol, England. image

Here’s what the listing says about it: Classic Georgian symmetrical front with rusticated quoins, sill bands, modillion cornice and parapet with open lattice sections as well as a central porch with Ionic ¾ columns. That’s some kind of architect-speak.

Now here’s the tatty part:imageIt doesn’t even look like the same house. It’s sort of like a mullet haircut – business in the front, party in the back.

On to the inside…Divine, except for the tatty light fixture. Oh, and the serious need for plaster and paint work. The listing says: elaborate paneled plaster ceiling in the Drawing Room with deeply undercut fruit and flowers. It is a pretty amazing ceiling, isn’t it?imageimage

And then there’s this:imageBrrrr…. that just makes me shiver.

This staircase could be amazing, especially with the barley-twist balusters. Here’s what the listing says about the stairs: open-well stair with quarter landings at the back of the house, with fluted newel posts rising between floors and pyramid pendants below, barley sugar balusters.

imageimageI am truly fascinated with the pieces that keep the stair-runner in place.

The house is listed for £425,000 - £475,000, which isn’t bad,considering that it’s got three reception rooms and six bathrooms. It’s just off the M32, which leads into the M4 to London in one direction and Cardiff in the other. It’s a road I am well familiar with. And it’s just off the same road as this beauty.

16 comments:

  1. Tatty devine = wabi sabi

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  2. Meg, have you placed your bid yet?

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  3. what a couple of million could do to this + and in UK. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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  4. It's a diamond in the rough -just needs a little loving -the bones are there!

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  5. Lovely house - I adore the ceiling. Regarding the stairs, the little pieces holding the carpet - I've got a set up in my loft somewhere that came from my Mum's little terraced house 30 years ago! They are brass, one end is screwed into the wood on the stairs, and the other end holds the stair carpet in place. they work like stair rods (as in the other staircase) and are as useful for a country house as for a little cottage too!

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  6. Agreed Bristol's great, but could be fabulous: equals money pit!

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  7. I think I knew a drag queen with the name Tatty Divine. I think it was Coco Dependent's sister.

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  8. Hello Meg - they are called stair clips - funnily I purchased some recently for my stairs - it is almost impossible to find rods in Australia and the clips (which came from the UK) are far cheaper (postage to Australia was as much as the clips - so imagine the cost for rods) and my rugs were too wide for the 'regular' rods. They look wonderful. Google stair clips and voila!

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