The Chanel House

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After yesterdays walk, I was convinced I could get a look closer at Rosehall House, the only house in Europe to have it's interior designed by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel. It holds this claim, as she was the mistress of the owner back in 1920's, the richest man in Europe, the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor.

It is on a fantastic spot next to the River Oykel, a good salmon river. Rosehall was once a very large estate.


I followed the river until I could get a clear shot of the house. A absolutely staggering piece of architecture.


And here she is. The Jezebel herself, and in the heelands!!!


But it's decay was obvious. A number of broken panes and window panels.




It sits with a view right across to the river.



More decay.


I can't believe the current owner doesn't go round shutting the windows, or boarding them up. Incidentally, the current owner who inherited the place lives in a neighbouring cottage.


I walked back up to the main track and round the rear of the house.


Got a picture through a missing pane of a sitting room (?). The mustard colour is significant in Chanel's design.

Another room, this one with an old bottle of brandy or champagne? None of these items would have belonged to the Duke as he'd sold it on.


The front of the house.


Looking through a hole in an entrance to the rear quaters of the house.


A shot through a window into a kitchen area.


The only place where I entered the house was through an ajar door round the back into what must have been servants workplaces.



A very large and impressive building.



Quite dilapidated round the back of the east wing.


The rear door, which I closed.


Last look before I walked out.


The house is seriously dilapidated. I would not risk entering, as the roof had partially collapsed round the back, and all the windows looked rotten, The eaves on the roofs were barely attached.

I can't see this place being taken on. There was word of it becoming a hotel, but the hotel literally across the road is dead. I wonder what the future holds for this incredible place.

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