We found a house!

Check out Mount Stewart:

One hundred and fifty-two rooms of 18th Century neoclassical splendor. Which means we'll need a big staff. Check out the switchboard:

The top boards list all the bedrooms, each named for a different European city, the bottom board lists the common areas.
We may have to wait a while to take up residency. The National Trust is two-thirds the way through a top-to-bottom rehab of the property, which has been somewhat neglected over the past century.

In the photo is the sleeve of Matthew, one of the conservators working to inventory and repair thousands of paintings and acres of curtains and rugs. His main job is gently vacuuming the curtains from throughout the house that are being cleaned and repaired. He was giving his mum a birthday tour of the house and we tagged along. A George Stubbs horse portrait was one of many stunning paintings that can be seen temporarily shelved while the house is being refurbished.

We spent most of our time in the 100-acre garden.



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