A remnant of Northumberland House

The hero of Silk is for Seduction requiring a domicile in Town, I looked around early 19th century London for a little something suitable for a duke.  I'd already moved characters from previous books into St. James's Square, so that was getting crowded.  Where, then?  Berkeley Square?  Nope.  I'd already stuck a family there.  Somewhere overlooking one of the parks? Nice, but none of the houses seemed to suit my hero

Eventually, my real estate search led me to the Strand, a much less fashionable neighborhood.  Once upon a time, (the time of Susan's historical novels, for instance) all the great noble palaces lined the Strand.  By 1835, the area had gone into trade.  But Northumberland House, home of the Duke of Northumberland, remained. 


So I stole—borrowed it, called it Clevedon House, made some architectural and decorative adjustments, and gave it to my hero.

Over at Two Nerdy History Girls, you'll find a post with lots of links to historical information about this fascinating holdover.  It occupies several pages in Christopher Simon Sykes's wonderful Private Palaces:  Life in the Great London Houses.  In London today all that remains is the street named after it, Northumberland Avenue, a doorway carefully preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a miniature of the room the doorway belonged to, the Glass Drawing Room. 

 Photos courtesy me.

Spring portraits

One never knows how or when inspiration will strike, but visiting museums usually brings on some kind of creative fit.  Here are a few that promise a visual feast, and perhaps inspiration for a character or two:

If you happen to be in Western Massachusetts this month, you may want to stop by one of my favorite art museums, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown.

It’s a beautiful museum in a beautiful setting, whose permanent collection I never get tired of looking at.  But their exhibitions are quite fine, too.  Until 27 March, they’re showing Eye to Eye: European Portraits 1450-1850.  You can read a review in the Wall Street Journal.

A little further east, the Worcester Art Museum has organized an exhibition of portrait miniatures.  Dandies runs through May 2011.  Then it’s on to the women—French women, to be exact.  Leisure, Pleasure, and the Birth of the Modern French Woman runs 14 May-11 September.

Illustration:  Portrait miniature of Lt-Col. Stephen Peacocke painted by George Chinnery around late 1779/1800, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Julia Child's Kitchen

A few weeks ago, on a trip south for a wedding, we stopped in Washington D.C. for a couple of days, to visit friends and, of course, museums.  I have a long list of places in D.C. I want to visit, but there's never enough time for more than one or two.  This time, inspired by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci's marvelous performances in Julie and Julia, I went straight to the Smithsonian to visit Julia Child's Kitchen. 

(To be strictly accurate, my journey was somewhat straight.  It was necessary to detour round the Boy Scouts parade.  There were several thousand of them in town that weekend, and the 100+ temps made even those brave lads faint, some of them.  But more of that at another time.)

Following up on my blog about Julia Child at Two Nerdy History Girls, here, for you viewing pleasure, are more photos.

There's a ton of fascinating info about Julia Child and her kitchen here, at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History site.