Is this a dream? Ripley Grange rises before us, a vision straight from Elizabethan England. Don’t let the Tudor façade fool you though. Ripley Grange isn’t a centuries-old manor, but a meticulously crafted dream realised in 1930. This magnificent house, nestled on the edge of Epping Forest, was the brainchild of Charles Frederick Clark. Clark, the millionaire inventor of carbon paper, yearned for a home echoing the grandeur of England’s Tudor past. After a two-year search for the perfect site, he found it in Loughton. He hired Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, the same architects behind his Art Deco factory, to build his dream. The result? Ripley Grange. Imagine beams salvaged from a French galleon, now forming the bones of this grand illusion. Picture stained glass windows, each pane telling a story from Clark’s life. Step inside, and walk into a recreation of Cardinal Wolsey’s study at Hampton Court Palace, now Ripley Grange’s library. Every detail, from the linenfold panelling to the ornate plasterwork, was painstakingly copied from historic models. Clark, a devout member of the Plymouth Brethren, even had the Great Hall designed to double as a chapel. Ripley Grange reflects not just the architectural trends of the interwar years, but one man’s deep fascination with a bygone era. We’re left to wonder, did Clark ever feel like a king in his own Tudor court?
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to