Dyffryn House, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Built between 1893 and 1894 for mining magnate John Cory, Dyffryn House is now a property managed by the National Trust standing in the grounds of the breath-taking Dyffryn gardens. The house is built in the French Renaissance and English Baroque styles by design of architect E.A. Landsdowne of Newport.
The house was closed for 20 years and re-opened Easter weekend of 2013 after substantial renovation works. Humphries Weaving were involved with restoration works after the Heritage Lottery Fund, in 2011, kindly gave a grant to refurbish the main rooms in their original styles.
The Red Drawing Room
During the renovation works of The Red Drawing Room it was discovered that the red taboret stripe that was on the walls was not in fact original to the room. Once delicately removed by expert conservators, the true red silk damask was unveiled.
Much of the original hanging remained intact in the majority of the twelve panels, however three of the panels had been damaged from a leak in the rooms above. The challenge for Humphries Weaving was to make sure the new fabric sat well with the original in the room. Many trials of the cloth were created for both colour and design. The beautiful pure silk damask was installed into the room in time for the official house opening.
Project reference: 2268
Image of the original fabrics by kind permission of The National Trust and The Heritage Lottery Fund.
