Photographic Impossibilities. Me or the house
I wanted a picture of me in front of the house that included the whole house. I thought sitting on the steps might be amusing. It cannot be done. By the time the house is in the frame, I’ve basically disappeared. I look the size of an insect.
My Mazamet 
I am enjoying the architectural beauty in your presence ! Great shot !
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Thanks. We love Palladian architecture, which is why we chose this particular house 🙂
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What a truly magnificent home
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Thanks. I wish pictures could convey the ‘feel’ of it, but they just don’t 😦
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Where’s your crown then? 😉
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I don’t have one; but you’ll be pleased to know I do have a 19th century tiara 🙂
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Well, I was going to say just that in fact . . . 🙂
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An identical scene but zoomed in on you would be excellent.
Hugs
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But then the house will be disappear!
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-grin- maybe not an insect exactly, but definitely a pygmy of some sort. :p
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I should do a Where’s Waldo type book 🙂
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-giggles- Now that I would like to see. :p
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The house
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LOL. The house it is!
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What about leaning in the doorway looking elegant? Or would you look like a stick insect standing on its legs? Sorry, that’s not meant to be rude (one mustn’t be rude or insulting on blogs), I was progressing the idea of the insect but standing.
The symmetry really is gorgeous however. Have to say, probably not for the first time, it’s far more my taste than Villa l’Africaine. I love it.
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My dear, if you stopped being insulting, I’d kill myself. One of the great things in life, to me, is the ability to poke fun at absolutely anything 😉
And indeed, standing was even worse. Not even stick insect, just stick.
Architecturally this one is really much grander. The one thing I do miss about Soto was how the house flowed to the garden. But one can’t have everything 🙂
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One can laugh with friends without feeling insulted regardless of what’s said. (I think!)
Yes I can imagine you would be dwarfed by the door as you are by the house on the stops. Didn’t you do a door photo previously, I seem to recall.
I’m just an old house person at heart. New build has never done it for me. One of the penalties of doing a history and archaeology degree I suspect.
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Absolutely. If people heard the things Mike and I say to each other they’d be absolutely shocked.
I’m an old house person too, and what I’ve discovered is there’s no way around it. In Spain I filled the house with architectural antiques, pillars, shutters, chandeliers etc. but it never had this feel of a real period property.
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Photoshop in the spirit of distorted medieval art. That could be quite fun.
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That house…do you require a house guest
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What a home!
As a fan of Jeffersonian architecture that incorporated the Palladian model (I’m thinking specifically of the Rotunda at University of Virginia, but also his home), I appreciate this example of classic lines and symmetry and I sincerely hope its ‘bones’ are as sound as the model intended. It’s my understanding that this style is supposed to make people feel small as they approach and enter the villa, which is probably why you have trouble finding a way to photograph yourself and the house without diminishing you! Also, is the house on a hill or rise to capture to capture a view and project its grandeur?
I have to say, I am no fan of the climbing vine because of the damage and cost of repair it causes especially to any mortar work (even though it can soften bold angles, hide modern downspouts, and looks fantastic if it’s the type that has season colours). I think we invite foundation problems planting too close to the house or allowing what’s there to grow and create strong roots that hold moisture next to the foundation. I happen to like a well drained foundation and argue that tasteful but more sparse groundskeeping around the base not only helps keep water away from the foundation but reveals a much stronger sense of permanence to this style… a consideration once very popular to the landed gentry who liked to build them but not so much today.
You have a very classical and grand home here that I think will be very challenging to decorate… especially to make ‘cozy’ if that’s what you’re after in specific rooms but I suspect a fantastic place to host evening dinner parties and glittering gatherings!
Just out of curiosity, what is the roof line? Is it flat in parts?
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The house isn’t on a hill! We’re in fact in the middle of the (very flat) old quarter of a small town in the South of France. The bones are fortunately in outstanding condition. When they built it they really threw money at it. Everything is of a quality I’ve rarely seen in private homes. I’ll put some more pictures up tomorrow, but just so you have an idea the door fittings are solid nickel silver decorated with solid brass.
It was definitely built to impress. It’s impossible to approach the doors without feeling like a dwarf.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on the vines. The main vine is wisteria. The house has survived it very well. Here you can see pictures of it in the 20’s and in the 50’s:
The vines were cut down a couple of years ago to make sure there was no damage, and fortunately everything was intact. I think the trick is to keep an eye on it.
As for the roof, one side you see, the other does give the impression of flat because of the parapet, but it isn’t.
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You could have a photo taken from then same position as this one, but you could stand much closer to the camera, then you’d appear larger. Obviously the depth of field may get a little strange, with you in focus & the house not so much in focus. I’m sorry to say I was looking at the beauty of the house, not at you. xx
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the, not then…..I should have checked spellings before I posted.
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The house wins every time!
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My what big house you have, grandma!
I’m also an old house person … especially here in the American hinterlands where new builds are cheap, no matter how expensive. McMansions
I passed one with gold-plated bosses on the wrought iron fence.
Once my son, the young architect, was visiting, and we went to see a distant cousin at her new McMansion. As we approached the front door, Marty rapped on the faux rock pillar, and I said “Be nice.” And he was. He took the grand tour, and finally found something to praise, “Nice crown moldings,” :lol
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I posted “shudder” after the “McMansions” – but used the wrong diacritical mark. I may never get the hang of this Inter-net stuff.
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Now that I don’t live in Sotogrande anymore, and there’s no risk of me ending up sitting next to one of the owners, I’ll do something evil and put up pictures of some of the most hideous McMansions you’ve ever seen! 🙂
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When I was a little boy and we’d drive through a city, I always looked around and ended up saying “When I grow up, I want that house!”- “That house” was almost invariably a town hall or a courthouse 🙂
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Holy cow! Those doors look more than twice your height.
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Good eye! They’re just over 11 feet tall and I’m 5’10 🙂
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Put yourself far in the foreground, with the house framed just as it is. The house may be a little blurry, but I think it would look good.
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