This England: Hughenden, Disraeli's Home

Reliving my England trip and sharing it with you continues with one more post of our road trip. We're still in Oxfordshire with Jenny and T, visiting historic buildings. After leaving Burford and that beautiful church, we headed toward Hughenden, the country home of Benjamin Disraeli, one of Victoria's prime ministers.

After all that church exploring, we were hungry so we stopped first at a tea shop at Waterpenny garden center, about 5 minutes outside of Oxford. We didn't really have time to look around at the shop (and really, in October, much of the season was over) but they did have a very small but charming farm museum attached. We checked out a number of farm implements hanging on the wall. Rick seems enamored with the horseshoe collection!

 

 They also had some beautiful silver pieces. I think these are hat pins, for the most part.

And no museum is complete without a few outfits from the period! (I didn't plan to take either of these photos in black and white, but I'm glad they accidentally came out that way. Then I readjusted settings!)

 T showed us how to play the game that Rick is looking at below. The board has a grid and you use a small wooden chip which you flick gently, hoping it will land (I think) on the dividing line closest to the end without going over. Or maybe in the middle of the square. I don't recall right now, but I thought it would be a fun and easy game for someone to build and the kids would love it.

But enough poking around! It was back in the car and off to Hughenden!

 

Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister for Queen Victoria over non-consecutive terms in the 1870s and 1880s. He is noted for playing a major role in the creation of the modern Conservative party. Born Jewish, he became an Anglican when he was twelve years old. The family was considered middle class and in later life, Disraeli romanticized his family origins. Even as a young man he dreamed of serving in Parliament.

 

 

DIsraeli's father bought Hughenden and upon the elder's death, he and his wife, Mary Anne, took over the house, recognizing that one representing a county and its people should have a residence in that county. Although the estate dated back to Norman times, the home wasn't modernized until the 1730s. When Disraeli took it over in 1848, additional renovation was done, spearheaded by Mary Anne.

 

 

She hired Edward Buckton-Lamb as architect. The Gothic revivalist added parapets and other architectural elements to "fancy it up" (along with changing the original white stucco house into red brick). Meanwhile, Mary Anne established an Italianate garden.

 

 

The home itself is a mix of both warm and cool, formal and less so. The dining room was small by manor house standards (see the Basildon Park post!) but rather friendly and intimate.

 

 

 I would call this library warm, but pretty masculine. Perfect for meeting a constituent!

And this room is fairly warm also, a fairly cozy sitting room.

 

 This one struck me as very feminine and a bit cooler. I could picture Mary Anne Disraeli enjoying afternoon tea with friends here.

 

This is Mary Anne's bedroom.  It was recreated, based on journal and other writings.

These images of Victoria and Albert, gracing Mary Anne's fireplace, were presented to Disraeli by the Queen and signed by her.

There were lovely accessories on display at Mary Anne's dressing table.

I don't know about you, but I've never had that neat of a dressing table in my life. (OK, I've never had a dressing table, either!) I suspect  it helps when you aren't actually living in the house anymore!

Another room showcases a timeline and Disraeli's robes.

The sedan chair was used by the politician to carry him through the streets after a successful election.

 

The graphic on the wall include several of his quotes. I liked this one. 

 

The house remained in the Disraeli family until 1936.

That quote certainly resonates with me, especially as I'm putting together these posts several months after visiting! Thank goodness for good travel journaling, Wikipedia and the Internet! The next Britain posts will take us back to London, but first a few from "At Home" to catch you up on life here -- books, exhibits and birds!

(If you saw my Veterans Day post, you might remember that Hughenden served as a critical map-making site during World War II. You can check that out HERE or by going to the menu tab England 2024 at the top of this page.)

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