No 57: The History of a House
A 200-year journey through the history of British interior design, examining how design has affected one Georgian house and its inhabitants in Bristol, from when it was first built in 1779 right up to the present day. Fashions in interior design have mirrored social, political and economic trends. Six different periods are explored, each covering between 30 and 50 years. The interior is restored with objects and gadgets, revealing how the different families occupying the house might have lived and how design influenced their lifestyle.
Episodes
The opening programme reveals how the house was built as part of a boom in speculative building in Bristol and who the early residents were. Covering the period from 1779 - 1845 the main characters are John Britton, a young gentleman who decorated the house in late Georgian simplicity and Mrs Hobbs, a widow who lived in the house for thirty years and followed the latest Regency interior trends.
Presented by Maxwell Hutchinson, this second programme looks at No 57 between 1849-1879 and shows how the rise of an eclectic style of interior design and developments in engineering, science and manufacturing influenced what people could have in their homes. It is the first time No 57 has running water - just one tap in the kitchen. The key families are the Tratmans who ran a ships' Chandlery in Bristol, and the Withers, a watchmaker with his wife and three children.
Presented by Maxwell Hutchinson, this third programme looks at No 57 between 1880-1905 and shows how Victorian Gothic and the influence of the aesthetic and arts and crafts movement affected the house. No 57 is by now not as fashionable as it once was and the whole area has come down in the world a little bit. The occupants are the Alders - who turn one room into a nursery for their children and Mrs Annie Edwards, a music teacher with grown up children is a lodger in the house.
Presented by Maxwell Hutchinson, this fourth programme looks at No 57 between 1902 and 1930. Design themes include the Edwardian style and Art Nouveau. The Nash family live in the house for the whole of this time, including a grown up daughter who is a seamstress and uses one of the rooms as her workspace.
Presented by Maxwell Hutchinson, this fifth programme looks at No 57 between 1930 and 1965 when the house is at its nadir. The whole area is run down and 'post war'. Interior design is not high on the agenda. But the world outside is changing with the influence of modernism, the space age and the Festival of Britain and tasters of this style creep into the house.
Presented by Maxwell Hutchinson, this last programme in the series looks at No 57 from 1969 to the present day. When John Macey bought the house in the late 1960s it was practically derelict and it was a two year labour of love to turn it back into a family home. Now the house is in one of the most desirable areas in Bristol and this programme examines what influences might affect the design choices of a contemporary family.
