I recently bought a large batch of seemingly unrelated photographs, and spent the next few days sorting through them with the intention of keeping my favourite ones and reselling the remaining images. This is the part where I always come unstuck. Once I have spent time looking at and researching a photograph, it becomes familiar to me and I am less inclined to sell it on. Particularly when I find that the photographs are not so unrelated after all!
Tragically, many of the photos have been taken from albums and any written hints and clues are now lost. Even the position of the photographs in the album may have helped identify the people and places. The above photograph of a house is one of a small collection from this large batch that all have the same colour backing paper (remnants of album pages) and are in a similar condition (mottled and faded). They show a connection to India, family life, and the lovely old house above.
Identifying this house is proving difficult. Perhaps it is even impossible! The photograph dates to the 1920s, judging by the age of other images which I will share in future posts. It has a very familiar style and my guess is ‘English Country House’. But I am no expert and would be grateful for relevant search terms… does the small slope at the apex of the roof have a name, for instance? Perhaps the chimneys are a distinctive style?
This second photograph shows the right-hand door of the house, without the creeping plants that cover the outside walls. It may have been taken at a different time of year, or the plants removed. The little girl and her three dogs are just adorable! I love her curly hair and how proudly she holds the leads!
If these were my family photos I would never want to let them go. They are precious. So maybe I will hang on to them… just for a while…
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Edited to add: I have found out that the roof line is called a ‘clipped gable’. And there appears to be an aerial of some kind on one of the chimneys? So perhaps the date is later than I thought (’30s?), although I’m still no closer to identifying the house!
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Edited 19th March 2018: Many thanks to jamesmmcardle for his excellent input regarding this house! Here is a general summary of his observations (please see the comments for details):
Regarding the roof-line, a higher resolution scan shows the ‘aerial’ on the left, which is almost certainly a lightning rod. Plus the ‘box-like’ structure on the right resembles a look-out, implying a view worth climbing for… possibly the sea?
A closer view of the right-hand-side exterior wall shows the unusual ’tilted square’ window and ornate bargeboards. There is more than a hint of Art and Crafts about this house! And perhaps a similarity to Red House, home of William Morris?
Finally, I hesitated to add the next photograph to my original post because of the extensive damage. But it clearly shows the cladding on the external wall, plus patterns to the brickwork where alterations have been made. Hopefully these are further clues that will eventually lead to the identification of this mysterious house!
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Forgotten Ancestors 