A Short Break at Manderston

He purchased the earlier house which he intended leaving to his eldest son. The young man died after choking on a cherry stone while a pupil at Eton, so it was the younger son, James, who inherited. James was blest with wealth, good looks and very considerable sporting ability. Known as ‘Lucky Jim’ he married into the aristocracy; his wife was Lady Eveline Curzon, sister of Viscount Curzon who became Viceroy of India. Their childhood home was Kedelston Hall in Derbyshire, one of Robert Adam’s early commissions, and among his finest houses.

Architect John Kinross had been responsible for the restoration of the chapel wing and gatehouse at Falkland Palace. This must have proved his abilities in restoration. His detailed and sensitive plans for Manderston were inspired by Kedelston, and one feels sure Lady Miller and her husband appreciated the result. The magnificent hall with plaster work carried out by French and Italian stuccoists is closely based on the Derbyshire house. Adam’s interiors at nearby Mellerstain also provided the Millers and Kinross with decorative ideas.

On completion of the house a ball was planned for 7 November, 1905 to which the leading Border families were invited. Visitors today can imagine the glittering occasion as the ballroom has the original decoration and furnishings. It was the first and last ball the Millers gave, as three months later Sir James caught pneumonia while out hunting. Lucky Jim’s good fortune ran out; he was only forty-two when he died.

The house is a joy to wander through, and visitors have a real sense of how the family and their twenty-two indoor servants lived. Climb the cantilever staircase based on one in the Petit Trianon at Versailles - the balustrade is silver-plated with a brass hand-rail. The house was the height of luxury with modern technology throughout. The extensive basement rooms include a magnificent kitchen, and separate larders for pastries, game, cooked meat, raw meat and fish. While female servants had attic bedrooms, the men were consigned to the basement. They were rewarded with the luxury of electric bedside lamps. A collection of Huntley and Palmer tins, the earliest from 1868, is on show, as Lord Palmer is descended from the company’s founder.

Sir James Miller’s elegant stables built round a courtyard were also designed by Kinross, and have been called ‘the finest stabling in all the wide world’. With Sir James’ interest in hunting and racing he ensured it was not only the humans who lived in luxury at Manderston! The grounds include formal gardens planted in the style of the period, and woodland surrounding a distinctively designed lake. Garden buildings to explore are the Gothic marble dairy with electrically operated butter churns and a tower resembling a Border keep, where Lady Miller would take tea with her friends.

Manderston represents the final flowering of Edwardian luxury and a way of life which was soon to end. Today one appreciates the superb quality of workmanship and the beauty of the house, its setting and grounds. I have resolved to return in the spring when banks of rhododendrons and spring flowers will complement the elegant simplicity of the Georgian style buildings. Perhaps I should also make a return visit to Kedelston.