Page 238 - WDT Magazine Egypt

richly decorated, massive, art-filled rooms — which ing Britain's smallest house in Conwy, North Wales,
include the Whistlejacket, Van Dyck, State Dining a town that originated in 1284. Located near another
Room and the Marble Salon, where Anna Pavlova tourist draw, Conwy Castle, this tiny, bright-red cot-
danced for a visiting King George V in 1912 (when 76 tage was built in the 16th century and has a pretty
bedrooms were earmarked for the use of his party) — waterfront view of docked boats.
remained a mystery to the public. "One of the biggest attractions in Conwy is ironi-
There's even a connection with the Kennedy family: cally also the smallest in size," wrote Margaret Wil-
Kathleen Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's sister, liams in her guidebook, "The Smallest House In Great
visited here during the mid-1940s Britain." The building is a mere 6 feet
while dating the still-married eighth wide and 10 feet high! Or, as the
Earl Fitzwilliam. They were killed in website states, "72 inches across, 122
a 1948 plane crash while on their inches high, and 120 inches deep."
way to a romantic rendezvous in As I stood in front taking photos,
the South of France. a charming elderly lady wearing a
Over the years the house be- bright-red, traditional Welsh costume,
came a teacher training college explained, "It was built in the 1590s,
and was later sold by the Fitzwil- one of 10 cottages built here. And it
liam heirs to a multimillionaire, who was in the same family for 150 years.
then lost it to foreclosure. In 1999, People come from all over the world
Clifford Newbold, a retired architect, to see it."
purchased the neglected property The guide, who also supervises the
for some $3 million. He was a man nearby tiny souvenir stand, patiently
of mystery, seen or known by few answered other curious visitors'
villagers--reportedly living in this questions and posed for photos with
massive estate alone. them — or took theirs.
"Wentworth Woodhouse is a simply marvelous After I paid my nominal admission and purchased
place," Newbold had said on British television. the guidebook, I entered through the small doorway.
He had devoted over a decade to its restoration. In the tiny, dark living room with black-and-white pho-
"Myself and my family have all fallen in love with it. tos on the wall there was room just for me. Everything
The intention is to open up the place as much as we was compact, including a seat bench that opened up
can to the public." to reveal stored wood. Then I climbed halfway up the
Following Newbold's 2015 death, the mansion was wooden ladder to take a peek at the second level,
sold to the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust noting the bed and nightstand.
(WWPT) for some $9.2 million--with some $55.6 mil- "The interior is an object lesson in how to manage
lion earmarked for restoration. After many years of with the minimum of space," wrote Williams, "for there
negotiations, Wentworth Woodhouse is now finally is a tiny fireplace where the cooking was done; a
open for tours--and I recently was lucky to tour inside settle with a lift-up seat which also doubled as a coal
some of the rooms and the gardens, which took three bunker; small round table, water tap hidden behind
hours. the stairs, and a minute bedroom with a long single
Wentworth has been highlighted on "The Country bed and small dressing table and wash-stand. In fact,
House Revealed," a BBC2-TV series; has been a film- everything that was needed was here."
ing site for various projects--including "Darkest Hour" Except the toilet, which used to be housed at the
and "Victoria"-- and has been featured in newspapers rear of the house.
and magazines. It's a mystery why the house was built so small.
But if less is more, then travelers can't miss visit- During the late 19th century, an elderly couple lived
Photo by Sharon Whitley Larsen

238 WDT MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018