I must say I do like a nice bathroom. I’m not remotely a bath person – it’s showers all the way – but I really think there must be another me existing in a parallel universe who loves a good bath. How else can I explain the dreamy lust for luxury I get when I see a gorgeous picture of a bathroom. Especially if it’s got a full-drawn bath full of foamy bubbles. I imagine myself sinking into it, my book propped up alongside a candle and a glass of wine on one of those wooden rack things that stretch across the bath, relaxed and ready to soak and chill for an hour or two …
… then I remember I get bored in a bath after about a minute, the bubbles get in my eyes and up my nose, my book gets soggy, the candle goes out with the first splash and I’m not a particular fan of wine. Plus I’m very aware that I’m sitting in what is basically a big bowl of my own dirty water.
So the parallel universe theory is the only one that makes sense.
This other me certainly came through on my recent visit Castle Howard. Castle Howard is a massive palatial country house in North Yorkshire. A tour takes you through lots of ornately decorated rooms filled with paintings, sculptures and antiquities. I wrote more about it here.
But the rooms that really got me? The rooms I never wanted to leave? The bathrooms. I loved them so much, I realised they needed a whole post to themselves to do them justice.
I mean, just look at this one – oil paintings in the bathroom, beautiful cabinetry, a fireplace, an armchair, what is probably a very expensive carpet sitting right under the bath and let’s not forget the toilet in a cupboard so you don’t have to look at it when luxuriating in the bath.
Or what about this one? With a delicately-shaped copper bath. There’s a little footstool to help you get in and out and forget armchairs – this one’s got a full-blown sofa!
A theme I noticed, was that a lot of these bathrooms, with their armchairs and sofas, their little coffee tables, paintings, lamps and rugs, looked more like living rooms with a bath in them than actual bathrooms. Do you think that’s a trend that could be resurrected? Having a bath in your living room?
Here’s another pic of the copper bath bathroom, this time showing the rest of the room. If it wasn’t for the bath in the bottom corner of the picture, you really would think it was a living room wouldn’t you?
You can read a bit more about the copper bath on Castle Howard’s Instagram page.
Here’s a closer shot of the toilet in a cupboard in the first bathroom. Close the doors and you could easily have one of these in your living room and no-one would be any the wiser.
This one is a more conventional bathroom. And it’s got a shower instead of a bath so is much more suited to non-parallel universe me. It’s still beautiful though, just look at that tiling. And the curved ceiling. And the lovely light over the basin.
And here’s a closer look at those beautiful tiles.
And finally, a bit of a novelty one. This bedroom comes with an early version of an en suite. The toilet (more of a potty I suppose) is hidden in a drawer in the bedside cabinet. You barely have to leave your bed to use it.
And there you have it. Can you see why I fell so hard for these bathrooms? I could even be tempted to actually take a bath in one of them. Do you think they’d let me?
Are you a bath or shower person? Would you like a bath in one of these bathrooms? Have you ever seen a more ornate bathroom? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Books to read that are relevant to your visit
- Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher-Stowe
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Like this? Read these next:
- An Afternoon in Caldea Spa, Andorra
- Getting Naked in a Swedish Sauna
- How to Spend a Day in Corona, Queens
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