Thursday, February 12, 2009

Dennis Severs Had a Dream...

London, UK



...To live in 18th Century London.  Which was far far away from the 20th century Californian lifestyle he had been born into.  So he packed his bags, moved to London, and set about making it a reality.  You can see the result of his obsession at the Dennis Severs house, which is open to the public for (i think) a couple hours every month (at very strange hours, I might add).

This is no museum or disneyland fantasy of what is was like to live in the 18th century.  This is the reality - that can be seen as ugly my many, but it also quite beautiful in its own way.  Its dirty - cold, there is not much light.  And it is completely lacking in all the comforts we surround ourselves in today.  That's the big takeaway really.  How much of our environment we miss.  And how we really arent forced to deal with our surroundings in any real way anymore.  Probably a blessing and a curse.

This house takes you back to when every comfort was a labour of love, and therefor the small things really had much more meaning.  A candle lit room warmed by a fire was a great moment.

You can pay about 16.00 to sit in one at the Dennis Severs house.  Strangely, it's well worth it



1 comment:

BillGoat said...

more pictures please. Sounds fascinating. Why would one give up comforts?