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A Look at Althorp

by habituallychic

04 . 10 . 11
When we visited the Theodore Alexander showroom in High Point, we learned that they have an entire Althorp Collection of reproduction furniture.  Althorp is a stately English home in Northamptonshire that is owned by the Spencer family.  While it has over 500 years of history, it is best known as the childhood home of Princess Diana and serves as her final resting place.  As you can imagine, it is very expensive to maintain a home of this size and historic significance which is why Charles Spencer authorized a collection of Althorp reproductions at Theodore Alexander initially to help pay for a new roof.  There was also an attic sale at Christie’s last year. We were not allowed to take photos in the Theodore Alexander showroom so I thought it would be fun to look at the home that inspired the collection.  We can’t all live in such a magnificent splendor but it is fun to know that we can own the same furniture. 
On a side note, actor Max Irons, son of Jeremy Irons, was recently photographed by Jason Bell for Vanity Fair at Althorp. All the photos with the handsome young man are from that shoot and the black and white photos are a vintage look at Althorp.  There is also a video online of Max Irons at Althorp that gives you an even better look at this stunning house and grounds.  Enjoy!

Max Irons in Wooton Hall

The Library

The South Drawing Room

The Billiard Room

The State Dining Room

The Great Room

The Sunderland Room

The Picture Gallery

The Painters Hallway

The Saloon

The Marlborough Room

King William Bedroom

Max Irons in the King William Bedroom

Oak Bedroom

Prince of Wales Bedroom

Max Irons in the Wine Cellar

The Stables are now home to the Princess Diana exhibition.
A photo of the Stables taken in 1921

13 Comments
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  1. Al April 10, 2011 | 2:16 pm

    What a lovely post. Althorp is such an impressive estate. It is quite beautiful both inside and out, as we can see from these fantastic photos. The idea of owning reproduction furniture form this stately home is wonderful.
    http://www.skylarkmanor.com

  2. JWC April 10, 2011 | 2:55 pm

    An amazing estate… I love the photos of Max Irons, especially the one of him in the King William bedroom and the one of him in riding boots on the pile of firewood.

    http://www.jwcsybaritic.blogspot.com

  3. Karena April 10, 2011 | 3:33 pm

    An Exquisite estate. Althorp is so legendary! The painters Hallway….the dining rooms!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

  4. Dumbwit Tellher April 10, 2011 | 4:43 pm

    Heather such an enjoyable post. I had forgotten that Diana was buried here; gave me goosebumps just thinking of her. Can you imagine as a child having this magnificent home as your playground? Great fun to see the photography and of course handsome Max.

    Cheers ~ Deb

  5. Barbara Jordan Dettweiler April 11, 2011 | 9:20 am

    Wow, what an impressive spread of photos. Vanity Fair did it justice by putting Max Irons in characther, so to speak…loved te one of him on the firewood – an unlikely setting on that estate, to say the least! Beautiful, stately and Old English for sure!
    http://bjdhausdesign.blogspot.com/

  6. Allison Egan April 11, 2011 | 11:33 am

    Incredible!!! My favorite image is the dinner party with tons of candelabras with very tall pillar candles – divine! and wow Max is cute! 🙂
    xo Allison
    http://www.spicerandbank.blogspot.com

  7. laughingsalmon April 11, 2011 | 12:47 pm

    Must be too fun to grow up in this Aladdin’s Cave of magical objects…

  8. kayce hughes April 11, 2011 | 1:22 pm

    I would like the red leather library chairs!

  9. Bart Boehlert April 11, 2011 | 2:54 pm

    Wow what a house. The library with the red leather chairs was on the cover of World of Interiors – love it.

  10. bluebadgerbaby April 11, 2011 | 4:51 pm

    Forget the house. Max Irons is stunning.

  11. LiveLikeYou April 12, 2011 | 12:24 am

    Stunning! You take us to the best places!!

  12. Nancy April 13, 2011 | 4:50 am

    Thanks for sharing these lovely photos…I really like the interspersing of the vintage black & white prints. I’m visiting England this summer and would love to see Althorp. It looks incredible.