A La Ronde - the 16 side house
Have you ever seen a 16 side house before? Let me take you to one called A La Ronde in Devon, UK
A La Ronde
In the late 18th century, two wealthy cousins called Jane and Mary Parminter toured Europe visiting countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Upon their return to UK a decade later, they built a house back home at a place called Exmouth. It was an unsual house to say the least, in that it had 16 sides and many features not commonly seen back in those days. The design of the house was inspired by Jane and Mary's European travels.
The visitor car park at A La Ronde is at the back of the house. First impressions it already looks very nice. The tall building is the water tank which is not accessible as it's in need of repair. And the barn next to it is now the reception area.
The apple orchard is to the left. When the house was first built in 1796, it is believed that there was an apple orchard here. The original trees had died long ago and these ones are replanted by the current owners. We've had a good apple harvest this year, and free apples are in abundance.
Unique Architecture
A La Rounda is very special due to its architecture. It's 16 sided house, and the rooms are lined on the outside. Jane and Mary were very much involved in the design of the house, but no one is sure if there was an architect involved at all. Probably not, as they were well traveled, and clearly knew what they wanted in life. For example, when they designed the room layout, the bedroom was facing the east so they can see the sun rise when they get up in the morning. The other rooms were located based on their main use during the day, so it's like their life and the house follows the sun. Finally the dining room faces west, so Jane and Mary could see the sun set as they dine. How clever is that!!
This is the bedroom and is located on the second floor.
The main lounges are downstairs and you walk through from one room to another. You can see the corridor leading into the rooms isn't long and straight like normal ones, and the walls have many sides. That's all due to the 16 side design of the house.
Where there's space in between rooms, it's been used as a mini library. Everything is so cleverly designed, and this is from over 200 hundred years ago.
Going back upstairs, the corridor follows the unique design of the house and goes round and round like you see here.
In 1886, a bathroom was installed in A La Ronde as well as central heating. This major modernisation was done by the only male owner of this property. When Mary died in 1849, her will stated that this house could only be passed onto unmarried kinswomen. It seems that somewhere during the next few decades after her death, a male relative crept in when the inheritance line ran out of unmarried kinswomen.
Let's go back downstairs and see what the centre of the 16 sided house looks like. Many of the rooms on the outside of the house leads into the center. This is one of them. If you look carefully, there is so much thought that goes into the entire architecture of the house, down to even the door frame. If you look closely, the top of the door frame is curved and it closes with a sliding door that is also curved. I find the attention to details at A La Ronde so fascinating.
And here is the most beautiful part - the center of the house. The 16-side design is reflected in the core of the property and from here there are various access to the different rooms. I wonder if Jane and Mary ever got confused into which room they wanted to go in?
Diamond shape
The other very unique thing about the house is the use of diamond shapes. The diamond shape windows are very special and makes the exterior of the house look so quirky yet quaint. And when you see it from the inside, even the shutters are very special. You may have also notice the walls in the centre of the house have diamond shape decorations, as does the main gate. It's all quite subtly done, but blends in perfectly.
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Interior Decoration
The decoration inside A La Ronde includes a lot of souvenirs Jane and Mary bought back from their Europe trip, as well as many oddities. A few items that stood out are these shell pictures they made.
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But I was most impressed with the feather frieze. The top of the wall were adorned with feather decorations. You can't really see how impressive they are unless you zoom in. Each and every one of them are different and was painstakingly hand glued onto the surface creating unique patterns. It's truly amazing!
A La Ronde is a truly amazing house. Not just because of its unique architecture, but also because of Mary and Jane's vision to create something so extraordinary over 200 years ago. If you're ever in the region, I highly recommend a visit.
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Wow this is such a cool place… amazing to even see inside. Very cool 😎
Thank you so much @livinguktaiwan for sharing this with us.
Will have to visit it one day. To imagine this was created so long ago. Such a history.
Wonderful.
Good night 👋🏻😊 have a great Thursday!
I didn't have much time expectation of it originally, but once I stepped inside, it's was so surreal! I just couldn't believe it was a real house that someone lived in
Yes, I can imagine… having no idea what to expect. But this is something else. Very cool 😎
The design in teference is very exotic, it is rare, it would be very interesting to visit it. Success in your publication.
Thanks for dropping by @omarrojas
Visiting us always dear, @livinguktaiwan and wishing you success from Venezuela
My first time to see 16 sides house!
Jane and Mary seemed was so keen in details of the house..well planned.
Love the idea of waking up seeing the sunrise and dinner with sunset was calming the same time romantic.
I think those two ladies were well ahead of their times to create such a unique house
Such amazing planning and architecture are done in this house. It's more beautiful inside. The interior designs are unique and intricate and so with the souvenirs. (You have a keen observation there too @livinguktaiwan for capturing the essence of this house. 16 sides? My house has only 4 simple sides and it took me several months to put together its simple design. Mary and Jane must be very brilliant!
The curved doorframe at that time? How is that possible? Just wow👏👏👏(slow clap).
I think back in those days, Mary and Jane must have had plenty of time in their hands, and apparently were very wealthy therefore could but build such a remarkable building. And I have to say, I was very impressed with that curved doorframe
That's very rare design yet beautiful and fancy!
It is in deed
That mini library is an inspiration. It occupies a small corner but could fit many books there. Also that type of book covers are so rare and I only see them around national library and back in my uni.
It's a great use of space, and I really love those old books. When I get a book case at home, I'm going to get some old books from the second hand shop and put them on the shelf,it would look so classy!
Did you ever write about UK book thrift store? I want to know how it looks inside there and the type of books they sell. Here, they are often disorganized but sold some really nice books and we can bargain too. Though, the problem I have with them is restoring the book and making them clean from dust mites.
I don't think I've written specifically about a second hand book store in UK before, only partly in this post. This shop is very interesting
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We have a lot of charity shops on UK where people donate unwanted items to charity who resell them and the proceeds goes back to that particular charity. Books are popular donated items especially fiction, there's normally a few shelves full, sometimes more, and them they would normally be categorised by subject, cooking, gardening, history, nature, travel etc. These are some of the Brits favourite topics
Next time I come across a good second hand book shop I'll make sure I do a post for you!!
That is so eccentric! those ladies were definitely thinking outside the box, its stunning
Those feather things were really impressive. If I didn't have my mobile phone and Hive , I'd be so I interested to have a go myself
lol creative time for you methinks
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must be a fun place to grow up in kids running in circles :)
I'm sure the kids would love running around here but neither Mary nor Jane ever married let alone have kids. Their will said only unmarried female descendants could inherite this property, so I doubt any kids ever lived here
modern days that shouldn't be any problem to have kids as a single mom . but in those days i think it wouldn't be that easy.
It would definitely be a scandal in those days to have a child out of wedlock.
Having said that, when I watch period TV dramas, sometimes there would be a storyline where a girl finds herself in that situation, a female relative or friend would accompany her on a trip abroad for a year, where she would become a young widower and have her child there and give the baby up for adoption. Then she'd come home as if nothing had happened!
Sorry, been watching too many TV programs!!
Whoa that house is great! I can't believe that shape. I just want to visit that home too. It's really amazing. Have you ever seen a 16 side home honey? @ezgicop
Time to come over to UK for a holiday ? 😃
If I have such an opportunity, I will definitely come hahaha. Who wouldn't want a holiday in the UK? I really want to come in the future.
No I haven't seen like this 😅 it is very different maybe in future I might see:)
That's a super unique looking house. The design is so different. The mini library is a neat feature and the design of the doors. You don't see that very often lol. The center room is especially incredible. 👌
The centre room is my favourite as well, very enchanting and surreal. I think that volunteer sitting there had the best job
What a cool little place! This must have been a joy to visit. It actually looks a lot bigger on the inside than it did from the outside. We have a couple of round or dome shaped houses near where I live, but none of them quite as quaint as this one. Thanks for sharing!
I was surprised by the inside as well. I mean it wasn't massive like some of the other grand English homes I've visited before, but spacious enough to be very comfortable. Glad you enjoyed the tour Bozz!
Wow. Interesting how this palace brough some sweet memories as I was living for a few years in a flat with similar bedroom, having a dormer just above the bed :) I loved watching the stars while falling asleep, not all nights, of course :)
That's sounds lovely, watching the stars at night. I stayed at a holiday house once where they had a sky window above the bed, I loved that. However I'm not sure if I would want one at home, I have this phobia that someone would climb onto the window or peek into my room, even though it's probably unlikely to happen 😬
Yes, I get that :) My even weirder phobia was that a meteorite will fall on me while sleeping. LOL.
Not that any roof, apart from maybe a thick concrete, would stop any meteorite, right. :D
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Wow - what an interesting place indeed - I love seeing places like this !!!
!CTP
Come on down south sometime!!
I do make it down to the Shire once in a while !
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STOPWhat a nice and quiet place, it's night here and I'm sitting in the dark in my room. Looking at these photos I began to imagine being there and what a relief I felt. Amazing...
Imagine 200 years ago when there was no pollution, no roar of cars. Nature, fresh air, clear weather especially at sunset, no sound. They have lived great life.
The cousins certainly knew how to live their life,the location here very nice
They had the opportunity to live as they wanted But it was a good experience to see it through your camera.
!PIZZA
What a brilliant architecture! I absolutely love the 'following the sun' system! Your presentation is wonderful, and so are the pictures. Thanks a lot for sharing!
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it
The quirky architecture is fascinating! The designs were well thought out and I am awed by that curve door. I had thought the picture may have been taken with a wide-angle lens and distorted, but then read what you wrote - how cool is that! In keeping with the curvature of the build!
There was talk in some historical article that I read that their cousin, who was an architect may have designed it, but, even if that were so, it doesn't detract from the house!
It is the small details that really get my attention, the libraries in between rooms! (I actually have a house like that with rooms in between rooms. It is an 1869 Rustic Victorian.) I do so love the center of the house, giving you the view above and access to anywhere in the house- all sixteen sides of it. How does one dream that idea?
I have never seen anything like the feather frieze before! In Turkey, there were paintings in a church, the Church of St. John the Baptist, in a small village that reminded me of that, but, it was painted and the circles were not feathers but flowers. But, still. :) It touches a memory for me.
I loved the house! This was so much fun!
Wow! Your house sounds so interesting Denise. I'm led to believe that most properties in the States are pretty new (by English standards 😉) so an 1869 one is very old!
The feather frieze is a first for me as well, I can imagine they had plenty of time on their hands, but it's still fascinating how they did so much of it around the house. However, I believe their love was in shells, they have a massive collection in the house, the most famous being the Shell Gallery up in the attic. I had a peep from the bottom of the stairs and it was amazing. Sadly it's not open to the public anymore as it's so fragile, but they're trying to work out how visitors can see it from the centre of the house on the ground floor.
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Wow..free apples.. that's great.. Meanwhile here, it's expensive 😅
Yeah, this year has been a good year apparently, but of course not all apples are equally nice. Many use for baking, or to make juice or cide
The pictures are super great
Such a wonderful sight
Thanks for sharing 💕💕
You're welcome
What a nice house. I think they've managed the weird rooms quite well. I never understood why people would want that, but I have to admit that our current apartment is also one with strange corners instead of straight rooms.
I was wondering about this guy:
Is that one of the owners? I first thought I was looking at a painting because of its appearance, but now I have to ask :) lol
Ha ha!! It's all down to the design of the house! The lady sitting down is the volunteer in the photo below and she's sitting at the doorway of the room that leads to the center part. You walk from room to room that lines the outer part of the house like a ring, and all the rooms have a door to access the center part. The man is probably a visitor. It's an odd house!!!
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How did I miss this post?! What a fascinating structure! My first impression was that it is somewhere in Denmark, what a surprise! I am absolutely definitely and 100% adding it to my wishlist. Not sure abt this year but hell yeah next year! I am looking forward to it already!
Ohh, and it looks like National Trust - even better!