A La Ronde

    The Octagon, the core of the house at A la Ronde, viewed from above from the Shell Gallery. Eight doors lead from The Octagon to the eight principal rooms of the first floor.

    Angharad Moran

    This unique 16-sided house was described by Lucinda Lambton as having ‘a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child’. It was built for two spinster cousins, Jane and Mary Parminter, on their return from a grand tour of Europe in the late 18th century. It contains many objects and mementoes of their travels.

     

    The extraordinary interior decoration includes a feather frieze, gathered from native game birds and chickens, laboriously stuck down with isinglass.

    There is also a fragile shell-encrusted gallery, said to contain nearly 25,000 shells, which can be viewed in its entirety using a touch screen 360 degree virtual tour.

     

    A La Ronde, Summer Lane, Exmouth, EX8 5BD

    Tel: 01395 265 514

    www.nationaltrust.org.uk/a-la-ronde

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