9 minute read
WRITTEN IN THE STARS The Countess
Written in THE STARS
Providence and determination have resulted in Knowsley Hall, ancestral seat of the Earls of Derby, being restored to its former glory
FEATURE & STYLING COSMO BROCKWAY PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES MCDONALD
The Walnut Drawing Room is at the heart of this historic house with its Parisian boiserie panelling and intricately carved and gilded marble fireplace. The room was totally empty on Caroline’s arrival and so she had the task of making it feel like a home. Cut velvet upholstery with Ottomanera motifs adds to the sumptuous feel.
ABOVE The warmth of the Edwardian panelling in the entrance hall is complemented by an Aubusson carpet. ABOVE RIGHT Caroline, Countess of Derby with dachshunds Lola, Poppy and Stella in front of the Victorian loggia at Knowsley Hall. Caroline plans to publish journals written by the 14th Earl of Derby whilst on a Grand Tour of Europe and America between 1820 and 1824.
Standing on the grand staircase of her home, Knowsley Hall, near Liverpool, Caroline Stanley, Countess of Derby, remembers when she met her husband. “I first met Edward twice in the same day, over the railings at Royal Ascot and then, to both our surprise, later that day at a wedding in Scotland,” laughs Caroline. “Of course, I had no idea what hand fate was dealing me, or that this house came with the ring.” The house itself is the arrestingly handsome ancestral home of Caroline’s husband, Edward, 19th Earl of Derby. Having unexpectedly inherited the somewhat forlorn pile from a childless uncle and aunt, the energetic young newlyweds decided in 1995 to leave behind their London lives and throw themselves into its restoration.
The task was even more daunting because half of the stately house had, according to Caroline, “been let out to the Merseyside Police as their headquarters and the interiors had been partitioned up into cubicles with magnolia gloss paint everywhere.” The future chatelaine’s first glimpse of what was to be her home was unpromising. “Because I was travelling in my role as Assistant to the Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures, I didn’t actually get to Knowsley Hall until several months into our courtship. I remember feeling that it was a beautiful house and park, but the interiors were bereft and unloved, as Edward’s uncle had moved out of the Hall 30 years earlier.”
Where other new wives might have run for the hills at the thought of taking on such a white elephant, the romance of the estate’s history captivated Caroline. Born a Neville, a member of one of England’s oldest families, and having grown up on the historic Audley End estate in Essex, Caroline has just the sort of vim and vigour it takes to bring an important house back to life. Reflecting on the unofficial training she received as a young girl for her future role, she remembers her grandfather, Lord Braybrook, brought their own family collection alive for her. “Our family house was so soaked in history and art that when I came to Knowsley, I felt its magic immediately. Interestingly, marrying Teddy reunited the two great
TOP Buried for years under magnolia gloss paint, the Morning Room has been brought back to its original splendour. Suzani and jajim cushions from Nushka Home enliven the sofas. ABOVE The view of Knowsley Hall from the ornamental lake shows the astonishingly long facade facing the gardens. There were nearly 50 bedrooms when Caroline arrived which have now been deftly pruned down to 20, all with en-suite bathrooms. LEFT The Mahogany Library, off the entrance hall, is used to display the family collection of china. Caroline has lined the glass-fronted cabinets with deep-red silk as a backdrop to the beautifully patterned porcelain.
The eighteenth-century Stucco Ballroom is a triumph of restoration and forms part of the Royal Lodgings built by the 10th Earl of Derby. The original decorations, with the heads of 12 Caesars and gilded swags, were added to by architect Claud Phillimore in the twentieth century.
LEFT The Octagon Folly was designed by William Kent in 1755 and has a view of Knowsley Hall across the lake. The design of the Stanley family crest on the facade is taken from a family legend of an eagle nurturing one of the family in its nest. RIGHT The interior of the Octagon Folly has traces of the original plasterwork. The family uses it for hosting lunches. Caroline found the faux bamboo dining chairs at a house sale at nearby Leverhulme Hall. The tablecloth is made from blockprinted vintage Indian fabric.
The Staircase Hall, added between 1908–1913 is a breathtaking space, hung with biblical scenes painted on vast leather canvases. medieval families of England – the Stanleys and the Nevilles,” she adds with an amused smile.
Knowsley Hall is now the home of the couple, along with children Henrietta, 24, Edward, 23 and Oliver, 19. It has a chequered past, interwoven with the pageantry of nobility. The original wing was built as a hunting lodge by Sir Thomas, 1st Earl of Derby, in 1495 to entertain his stepson, King Henry VII. The family held the Isle of Man as Kings and Lords for 300 years, as well as being patrons of both Shakespeare and Edward Lear. The 7th Earl was beheaded for the Royalist cause and, perhaps most famously, the Epsom Derby was named after the 12th Earl.
Both Edward and Caroline wear it lightly. Warm and welcoming, they delight in hosting guests from all over the world, working with the likes of luxury travel agency Loyd & Townsend-Rose. The tranquil setting of the house, nestled in Capability Brown parkland, is all the more striking when the docks of Liverpool are viewed from the bedroom windows.
The magnificent facade, with Caroline’s Versaillesstyle topiary planting adding a sense of theatre, is the work of several architects, including William Henry Romaine-Walker in the early twentieth-century. “The 17th Earl hired him to tidy up the house after he admired the architect’s design for Liverpool Town Hall,” says Caroline. Further embellishments included the Walnut Drawing Room, its panelling designed
ABOVE The young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret would breakfast in this dining room in The Royal Lodgings wing with their mother, Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother) whilst visiting for the horse racing. Caroline found the ornate hand-painted screen in an attic. RIGHT Topiary in the gardens is laid out in the French manner. Knowsley Hall is available for private stays and is also a glorious wedding and events venue. Visit knowsleyhallvenue. co.uk by the same Parisian firm who later created the state rooms of the ill-fated Titanic. This handsome room is used today for family gatherings and has been furnished by Caroline in fittingly sumptuous upholstery to complement the original Edwardian curtains. A stint working with royal interior decorator Dudley Poplak has been an invaluable background for the challenge of transforming the grand rooms into comfortable and inviting spaces.
“Actually, the first room I tackled was the State Dining Room, built for a visit by George IV,” says Caroline. “I invited some of my former colleagues from The Royal Collection to come and stay and we spent a very happy and exhausting few days rehanging the astonishing collection of portraits.”
More recent projects have included a favourite bedroom, Lord Derby’s Suite, which Caroline has covered with a bespoke floral wallcovering called Indienne from Lewis & Wood, a backdrop to a specially commissioned four-poster bed hung with pale-blue silk.
Built in 1890, the State Dining Room is 58-feet long and is similar in style to the State Dining Room at Windsor Castle. The Earl and Countess of Derby host banquets here, both privately and for paying guests, setting the table with opulent silver and tazza dishes filled with pineapples and other exotic fruit to evoke another age.
ABOVE LEFT Caroline has decorated the principal bedroom, Lord Derby’s Suite, in a light and elegant style. A lamp from Oka ties in with the wallpaper from Lewis & Wood. ABOVE RIGHT The bedroom of youngest son, Oliver, has been given drama with the addition of a deep red canopy over the bed and an eclectic mix of cushions from Nushka Home.
Each room has been given a particular character with homages to family personalities, such as the delightfully lavender-hued and feminine Lady Victoria Room, featuring a portrait of its namesake, Lady Victoria Bullock, great-grandmother of television personality Clare Balding. “My vision has always been to return the interiors to being a stately home downstairs and five-star luxury in the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs,” Caroline explains.
When decorating the rooms, Caroline was helped by her interior designer sister, Amanda Murray. “Having worked on large houses such as Locko Park, Amanda was thankfully undaunted by the scale of the place,” she says. “She was so helpful with colour schemes and curtain design appropriate to such large rooms. I had no idea how important pelmet depth was until she drummed it into me!”
Citing Nancy Lancaster as her greatest design inspiration, Caroline has used historical paint colour ranges wherever possible. “Even though these paints might be slightly more expensive, I know the research that has gone into them means that the shades will be correct for the date of the house,” explains Caroline.
The colours that meander through the lofty rooms, including the elegant blue Morning Room, are the perfect foil for Caroline’s eclectic finds, including silk suzani cushions and exquisite hand-painted screens. One such screen is now in the oldest part of the house, the private dining room of the Royal Lodgings, which has hosted generations of monarchs, including Her Majesty The Queen, who visited with her sister Princess Margaret when they were young.
Reflecting on her relationship with Knowsley Hall, forged through many challenges and joys, Caroline says, “The privilege of waking up in such a beautiful place inspires creative thinking, dreaming and a sense of well-being. That is exactly what we hope to share with our guests who come to stay.” n
