Page 34 - VE Magazine - Issue 42

RUSSELL-COTES MUSEUM
Later, on learning that the hotel was once patronised by the Prince of Wales, Merton appointed it as the Royal Bath Hotel. It soon attracted the rich and famous and it was this success that allowed the couple to embark on their travels around the world and feed their passion for culture, art and collecting.
In 1884 the couple embarked on an epic tour taking in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, Japan, China, Singapore and India that lasted 18 months. When they returned they had over 100 crates of objects ranging from shrines, armour, masks and swords as well as every day objects giving us a tantal- ising glimpse of normal life in far-away lands that only the wealthy had seen first-hand at that time.
EAST CLIFF HALL
In 1896 Merton commissioned local archi- tect John Frederick Fogerty to design a new house in the grounds of the hotel as a birth- day gift to his wife. Set in the cliff face it had stunning views of the coastline and would be the ideal place for the couple to live, filled with their treasures serving more as a show- case than a family home.
They lived there until Annie died in 1920 and a year later, Merton followed. It was in 1921/22 that the house and its contents (which had been presented to the people of the Borough of Bournemouth in1907) opened as a public museum. This incredible house is sealed in time and has the couple’s passions, love and personalities stamped all over it.
The beautifully landscaped gardens lead to the entrance but it’s impossible not to stop on the balustraded imperial steps and look up to the magnificent, pyramidal roof flanked by two conical roofs, stained glass and balconies beckoning you inside.
The main hall is a breathtaking mix of styles which has echoes of the Arab Hall at Leighton House in London with its mosaic fountain in the floor directly below a stained glass skylight depicting the three transitions of the sun of morning, noon and evening. Mahogany and rosewood accentuate the rich, dark hues of the oil paintings, columns
‘THE MAIN HALL
IS A BREATHTAKING MIX OF STYLES’
34 / October-November 2018 / ve
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