Open Day

Today was the one day in the year when Halton House is open to the public.  It is only a few miles from my house and used to be a rather grand Rothschild mansion (although not on the scale of Waddesdon Manor) built by Alfred de Rothschild in the early 1880s. He died unmarried and left the house to nephew Lionel, who sold the whole estate to the War Office (now the Ministry of Defence) in 1919.  Here the Royal Air Force established a training base and the house became the Officer's Mess - which it still is today.  My father was stationed here when he did his RAF training for WWII - ironic that I should end up living so close.

There is a big question as to HH's future. The RAF is moving out and the estate area will be developed into housing, but Halton House is a protected building and so has an uncertain time ahead.  Although it has been stripped of all valuable paintings and furniture, it is still a spectacular shell with magnificent ceilings and decorations.  I did my best with a mini ceiling panorama of the former billiard room - but hand held and no tripod I could not be accurate and it was difficult to bend backwards sufficiently to get in all that was necessary.  
An extra of two current RAF personnel walking down the rather spectacular staircase.