Conservation, Restoration and Life in a 15th Century Wealden Hall House
SmartWell Manor - Part I: an introduction
Hello and welcome to the SmartWell Manor Blog!
If you’re familiar with the smART Decorative Arts website, you may have already been introduced to the lovely home I share with my partner John and dogs, Cav and Loki. Those of you who follow us on instagram (@smartwell_manor) will also have already been introduced to our newest addition, Loki; however, he has not yet been formally introduced on the website! Eeeeek bad mummy; it’s a good job Jackuhuahuas aren’t so internet savvy! *Note to self: blog post to introduce Loki - destroyer of cushions, canine Houdini, hell hound incarnate.
Well today marks a year since we picked up the keys, packed up our London flat, and moved to the country; in the hope of fulfilling our dreams of a quieter, healthier and happier life.
All-in-all I’d say those dreams are well on the way to being fulfilled; not least the quieter element, in part due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown. Although it must be said, Loki’s barking far outweighs our friends and family in the noise stakes, even when pitted against a rather raucous party! (More on those in later posts!)
Over the next few months I will be posting about some of the most interesting elements of our wonky old home, along with conservation and heritage tit-bits, and the progress of our conservation and restoration works to the house. For now though, here’s a brief introduction to the 15th Century Wealden Hall House, affectionately known to our nearest and dearest, as SmartWell Manor. (It should be noted early on that it’s not actually large enough to be a manor house, but has unabashed illusions of grandeur, so if the cap fits we say wear it with pride, mini medieval marvel!)
This week we’ll be posting a few blogs to show you what we’ve been getting up to over this last year; in this post, we’ll look at our initial plans, the move and the big clean!
Prior to moving in we had grand plans to get to work as soon as possible; however, after a week or so we realised that with regard to some of the big changes we wanted to make, living in the house and getting a good understanding of how we use it, and how the house wants to used, would be key. (Don’t underestimate that last quip, old houses have a mind of their own, if you’re not willing to bend at least a little to their desires they will break you!) So we made the decision to live in the house, as is, for around a year; see it through the seasons as it were, before we firmed up our plans. However, this doesn’t mean there wasn’t still a heck of a lot to do.
First step, the big clean! Now I don’t mind the odd cobweb, it’s an old house, I kinda like spiders and am not at all keen on flies, but the amount, size, and levels of dust meant they had to go! So my first task was to get to work on a conservation clean. For those uninitiated in the ways of conservator (a rare breed of human folk, who can be found in the basements of museums or standing oddly close to and squinting at walls of historic buildings), this basically means the removal of dust, dirt deposits and debris; whilst also being mindful not to over clean, abrade the surfaces or accidentally suck something important up the vacuum cleaner! (My number one tip for you all to stop the latter, keep those laddered pairs of tights and stick them over the end of your hoover nozzle; you are very welcome!). These accumulations of dust and dirt are a dangerous combination to the surfaces of historic buildings and artefacts because they are hygroscopic (they absorb moisture and hold it against the surfaces in question), which will over time lead to damage and deterioration.
Below are some examples of the ‘prettier’ spider mansions, in the latter stages of construction, on some of the amazing doors at SmartWell (more on these in later posts!).
Next up for yours truly was the Kitchen which, on viewing the house, we thought we would probably need to replace pretty quickly. It was filthy folks, so much so that we thought the units were a pale yellow, nope, they were in-fact cream! Those handles on the kitchen cupboards, well I couldn't actually work out what they were made of (think sticky and kinda rubbery to the touch!). However, after a whole day and several ‘lemon juice poultices’ (a poultice is where you use a porous material, apply a solvent or cleaning agent, and apply it to your intended surface), I can confirm that they are in fact metal. Likely silver or nickel plated, heavily degraded by the thick layers of goodness knows what, but now not at all sticky (which is always a bonus in door furniture, I think you will agree!).
After four full days of cleaning, a tree’s worth of lemon, more vinegar than my Granddad put on his fish and chips, and the sort of elbow grease I can only have inherited from Nana’s on both sides, it actually looked pretty smart (‘smart’, see what I did there?!).
We think it’s cleaned up fantastically well and looks fabulous, as such a new kitchen is way down on the to do list, for now at least! But don’t take our word for it, have a gander below and tell us what you think.
Finally for today’s instalment, something that brightened both our spirits after a long week of cleaning and clearing; John discovered these beauties! Original floorboards, in great condition, hiding their light under a decidedly dodgy pink carpet (sincere apologies to anyone who is a fan of the colour puce, we honestly mean no offence)!
*Look out for an upcoming post going into much more detail about the floorboards in SmartWell.
Thanks so much for joining us today and hope to see you again for the next instalment of our first year here at SmartWell Manor; where we will be looking back at the first few tasks we undertook to get settled in to our wonderfully wonky, historic, dream home.
Take care and stay safe.
