Everything about Oldway Mansion totally explained
Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens in
Paignton,
Devon,
England. It was built as a private residence for
Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875), and rebuilt by his third son Paris Singer in the style of the
Palace of Versailles.
The mansion and gardens
Around 1871 the Fernham estate in Paignton was purchased by
Isaac Merritt Singer, the founder of the
Singer Sewing Machine Company. The old buildings on the site were demolished and he commissioned a local
architect, George Soudon Bridgman to build a new mansion as his home. Isaac Merritt Singer died on
23 July 1875, shortly before work on the original mansion was completed.
Paris Eugene Singer, Isaac Singer's third son, supervised the alterations at Oldway Mansion between 1904 and 1907. The rebuilding work was modelled on the
Palace of Versailles, and the eastern elevation of the building was inspired by the
Place de la Concorde in
Paris. The interior of the building is noted for its grand staircase made from
marble and
balusters of
bronze. The ceiling of the staircase is decorated with an ornate painting based on an original design for the Palace of Versailles by the
French painter and architect Joseph Lebrun. The ceiling is a
replica painted by Carl Rossner, who studied the original by Lebrun before creating the reproduction.
Above the staircase there's a large painting entitled
The Crowning of Josephine by Napoleon by
Jacques-Louis David. The original was sold to the French government in 1946 and now hangs in the
Palace of Versailles. Today there's a replica of the painting hanging in its place. The reproduction is a colour print which was unveiled in 1995.
The gallery on the first floor is a reproduction of the
Hall of Mirrors in
Versailles, and is floored in
parquet. The gallery leads into the ballroom, which contains walls of
gilt panelling and mirrors. Above the fireplace there's an oil painting of Louis of Bourbon dating from 1717.
Oldway Mansion is set in 17 acres of gardens, which are laid out on an Italian theme by the French landscape gardener Achille Duchesne. Beneath the eastern elevation of the building is the maze, which consists of dwarf
box hedging and flower beds. To the south of the mansion there's the
grotto garden where a waterfall passes over a rocky cave into a pool below. The grounds of the mansion contain many
sub-tropical plants and shrubs.
Opposite the main entrance to the mansion is a large round building known as The Rotunda. This was built in 1873, and was used originally as a horse riding pavilion and exercise area. Isaac Merritt Singer gave this building the nickname of "The Wigwam".
History
Paris Singer is noted for his love affair with the dancer
Isadora Duncan, who died in a road accident in 1927. Following the end of their relationship in 1917, Paris became an American citizen and went to live in the
United States. This was done partly for tax reasons, and after 1918 Oldway Mansion was no longer the permanent home of the Singer family.
During the period of the
First World War from 1914 to 1918, Oldway Mansion was transformed into the American Women’s War Relief Hospital. The Rotunda was converted to house rows of beds for the wounded soldiers being brought back to
England from the trenches of
France and
Belgium.
Queen Mary visited the hospital in November 1914.
Oldway Mansion became the Torbay Country Club in 1929. During this period
tennis courts and a
bowling green were added to the grounds that can still be seen today.
During the
Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Oldway was used in the war effort by housing
RAF cadets training to be aircrew. In 1943 Oldway was damaged in an air raid, along with many other buildings in Paignton.
King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth visited the mansion in 1943 .
Oldway Mansion today
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Paignton Urban District Council purchased Oldway Mansion from the Singer family in 1946 for the sum of £45,000. It is estimated that around £200,000 was spent on building the mansion. Today the building is used mainly as council offices and for civil
marriage ceremonies. There are also offices for the
BBC local radio station
Radio Devon in the building. The mansion and its grounds can be visited free of charge by members of the public, and it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in
Torbay. The mansion has a small museum with exhibits linked to the building's history, including antique
Singer sewing machines. Oldway Mansion is a Grade II*
listed building.
In recent years the cost of maintaining the building and gardens has increased considerably, leading to the suggestion that they should be sold and turned into a
casino or apartments. This suggestion has been controversial, since local residents argue that the mansion was sold at a reduced price on the understanding that it would be open to the public.
- Oldway Mansion has been used as a film location on several occasions. During the spring of 2004, it doubled as Buckingham Palace for the filming of, starring Christian Slater and Neve Campbell. Pink gravel, guard houses and period vehicles were used to recreate the royal courtyard. The 1968 film Isadora starring Vanessa Redgrave and telling the life story of the dancer Isadora Duncan also used Oldway Mansion as one of its locations.
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