Fellow WordPress member Visiting Houses and Gardens wrote about her visit to Houghton Hall and Gardens and remarked that had the pictures not all been sold she would have given the house a five star rating. Well, this summer the pictures, although sold to Catherine the Great, have all been re-hung in the exact locations from which they were lifted 250 years ago. This unique exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Hall and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and a great deal of work has resulted in an exceptional country house visit.
Houghton Hall
Last Saturday my sister and brother-in-law and I studied the Houghton Hall and other websites in order to get a foretaste of the show we were to visit the next afternoon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22439230
No photography is allowed in the Hall so my pictures show the beautiful garden. Luckily we arrived in good time before our timed ticket slot and had time to inspect the Walled Garden in all its glory and have a cup of tea before the highlight of the visit: Houghton Revisited.
Near the Beehives
Waterflame by Jeppe Hein
And here is the flame (source)
Before leaving the Houghton Estate I just had time to take a quick look at the Landmark Trust property : Houghton West Lodge. Not surprisingly it’s fully booked until October.
Houghton West Lodge
miladysboudoir 
We didn’t have time for this exhibition on our recent trip to Norfolk but lucky sister-in-law has it on her list for next week!
I hope she gets there, Nilly. The Hall is closed on Monday and Tuesday and it’s a good idea to book ahead.
v.jealous you got to see the pictures in situ! thanks for sharing the you tube link.
At least you were able to see the garden and take pictures inside. Although the pictures were not all to my taste it was certainly an amazing experience.
actually I sadly didn’t get any pictures inside as they were forbidden then too. I understand that rule when 3rd party copyright is in issue (e.g. when there are borrowed pictures), but if Chatsworth & Castle Howard are comfortable with inside photography (Chatsworth even allow the use of flash), I sometimes don’t understand why other houses are so reluctant to allow pictures, particularly in State Rooms where at some point they’ve usually appeared in Country Life or the World of Interiors so if thieves really want to get pictures of interiors, they will.
What a lovely day out that was! How fortunate that you managed it.
Please tell me about the flame in the garden.
Fortunate indeed, sherry. All I can tell you is that we waited ages for the flame to appear but it was just amazing when eventually it did. A gas flame seemed to leap through the fountain. Here it is on his website : http://www.jeppehein.net/pages/project_id.php?path=works&id=120
VHAG – you are absolutely right. It’s always strange to me that some allow and some don’t. At Oakwell Hall I was told it was due to some of the furniture belonging to the V&A so now I understand. I did think it was because many photographers take such an age to take a picture that no one else would be able to inspect the room/furnishings/pictures.
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