DUCHESS OF YORK

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 2 July 1927, Page 11

DUCHESS OF YORK

]. T is in Piccadilly that the Duke and Duchess of York have elected to set up housekeeping on their return to London from their prolonged tour to the. Antipodes. The residence they have chosen in this thoroughfare is No. 145, which was formeily occupied by Sir William and Lady Noreen Bass. Just* round the corner, so to speak, is Chesterfield House, where Princess Mary is installed; and within a few minutes’ walk across the Green Park are Buckingham Palace, St. James’ Palace, and York House, and Marlborough House (writes Horace Wvndham). No. 145 Piccadilly is quite a modern mansion, and thus has all the latest conveniences. It is a substantial stone-fronted building, four storeys high, and has a balcony above a pillared doorway. Further it has a garden. A small one, certainly—not much more than a strip of lawn, fringed by flower beds—but. none-the-less, a garden. In the centre of London, where every inch of space is of value, this is a rarity. As a matter of fact, it was the garden, as much as anything else, that made the Duchess choose this home out of all the others she inspected. “After White Lodge, I simply couldn’t do without a bit of turf and a couple of bushes!” she said. Having been left untenanted for some time past, the building has naturally required a considerable amount of re-decorating and re-plan-ning. During. the absence of the Duke and Duchess, this has been attended to under the personal superintendence of Queen Mary, who has paid a number of “surprise visits.” Often, with only a lady-in-waiting for a companion (and occasionally with Princess Mary), she has driven up in her car, and spent an hour there talking to the foreman of works. Her Majesty’s special object has been to ensure that modern domestic science and hygiene shall be blended with the picturesque and the comfortable. The atmosphere on which she insists is that of a home, rather than that of a palace. “If my son and daughter-in-law want grandeur,” she said, “they can always come and see me.” ' Of course, the Duchess herself has had a good deal to do with the general scheme of decoration, for she practically settled this before leaving England. While away, too, she has written many letters on the subject. Her preference is to be noted in the soft pastel tints of the walls. The majority of these are pannelled, with the divisions picked out in gold, as also are the friezes and ceilings.. Another feature on which she has insisted is the flood of light that invades the house from roof to hall. There are no dark passages anywhere During the day the central entrance hall and principal staircase are lit from above by a large dome, and at night by a big candelabrum.. The principal room at No. 145 is the drawing room on the first floor. This, which is large and airy, has five deep corniced windows, with a long balcony in front, commanding a beautiful view across the Green Park. The walls are distempered a, delicate cream shade,, surmounted by a mauve frieze, and the ceiling, from which hangs a magnificent candelabrum of gilt and crystal, is panelled in main e, pink and

NEW LONDON HOME

A PICCADILLY MANSION

gold. A second feature of this room consists of a pair of handsome double doors,, with heraldic devices moulded on the pannelling. For her bedroom the Duchess has selected a delightful pink shade. This is the “note” of everything in it, except the carpet, which is black. The contrast is. perhaps, a little startling, but it is certainly effective. The Duchess’ boudoir, which is on the same floor, is picked out in an attractive blend of green and grey. The walls nere are olive-hued, encircled by a greyish dado, thus making the room extraordinarily “restful.” It is in this boudoir that the Duchess keeps her special treasures, some from Glamis Castle, her girlhood’s home, and others from White Lodge. Richmond. Dozens of photographs of her friends, in silver and tortoise-shell frames, pretty pieces of china, and daintily-bound volumes of her favourite authors, are to be seen here, and everywhere masses of flowers. The dining room is at the back of the house, with big bow windows looking on to the garden. It is a very pleasant room for the purpose, with warm red walls, an oriental carpet, and some beautiful old mahogany furniture, and several valuable pieces of Chippendale and Sheraton. This, by the way, is one of the few rooms in which there are any oil paintings. Close to the dining room is the morningroom, which is also used as a breakfast room. Here the walls are green; and the long window's lead on to a tiled terrace, from which it is not more than a step into the garden. On either side of the open fireplace are dwarf bookcases, and above them are a number of water-colours. The majority of them are by English artists. » The Duke of York’s own room is a sort of combined study, library and “snuggery.” It is essentially a “man’s room,” with its substantial writing table, bookshelves, deep armchairs, and “club rail” in front of the fireplace. A telephone and a filing-cabinet suggest business. There is a good deal of this, for the Duke has an immense correspondence, and, with the help of his private secretary, he attends to it systematically. The room is pannelled in dark oak, and round three sides are hung a collection of sporting prints. Other prints are of naval and military subjects. A very important apartment at No. 145 Piccadilly is the nursery of little Princess Elizabeth. ' The woodwork of this room, which is on the third floor, is painted a white enamel, and a charming frieze of flowers and figures runs all round it. For the furniture, the general scheme is white, touched up with cornflower blue. A conspicuous object among this is a large cupboard, in which the little Princess will keep her toys. An historic interest attaches to a number of these, for they belonged to Queen Mary herself, among them being a dolls’ house, of proportions and contents calculated to make any child’s mouth water! There must be ghosts in Piccadilly, as elsewhere, to tread the pavements, for among its old-time inhabitants have been “Old Q” (the Duke of Queensbury), Wellington. Byron and Palmerston; and, in later days, the Duke of Cambridge and the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. And now Piccadilly begins a fresh chapter, for Royalty is once more installed there.