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Category / Inspiration Vault

Drawing Boards for the Ballets Russes

Nineteenth century Russia was restless, and so was Léon Bakst. The young man belonged to a new generation of creatives, one ready to turn Realism on its head with one flick of a bejewelled, utterly fabulous wrist. Today, his name is “a byword for excitement, for colour and glamour” and a radical new approach to…

Travelling Modern Europe with a Victorian Railway Guidebook

Are you looking for a way to travel back in time? Well, we haven’t cracked the laws of physics yet, but we have the next best thing – a guidebook from another time. Move over Lonely Planet, Bradshaw’s was one of the original guides that inspired the British to travel the Continent for leisure. Bradshaw’s…

Mozart’s Sister, the Forgotten Prodigy

It can be difficult having a sibling who is a high achiever but imagine if that sibling was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child prodigy, composer, and multi-instrumentalist with an unquantifiable talent that would astound the world with his genius. By the time he died at 35, he had composed over 800 pieces of music and…

The Forgotten Charm of the Barbershop Occupation Mugs

Welcome to another show & tell of collector’s curiosity objects. This week: the barbershop occupation mug. Allow us to explain; in the 19th century, and into the 20th, barbershops were a central hub for the working class man. It was where they could gather, catch up on the local gossip, and maintain their appearance of…

5 Little-Known Chateaux to Visit Near Paris

‘Tis the season for chateaux hunting! Of course, you won’t find us fighting our way through the selfie sticks at Versailles, and I thought we should round up a few of our go-to castles for fall day tripping around Paris… 1. The Three Musketeers Hideaway A forty minute drive west of the Notre Dame cathedral…

Can’t Sleep? Here’s 20 Free Documentaries to Soothe the Mind

Ah, the good old fashioned documentary. They teach us about our planet’s wildlife, architecture, culture, people, and ideas. They also put us to sleep. And that’s not a bad thing on a day like this! Is there a better way to drift off to dreamland, than with the gentle cradling of Orson Welles’ voice, or…

Meet America’s Lost Wonder Woman

The personification of countries is nothing new. For years artists have used the personification of countries to make make a point about the country’s political actions, its history, and at times to inspire hope during the most trying of times. From the 1800s and to the early 1900s it was popular for countries to have…

Decoding the Secrets of Italy’s Storytelling Gardens

We live in landscape narratives — places where stories are embedded in the land itself, entangled in the vegetation or built into the architecture. A winding road, a tower, a house under construction or falling apart — in all these we find stories at work. Gardens are perhaps the ultimate landscape narrative where stories may…

Let’s Window Shop for French Fairytale Homes Again

I’m in that mood again. Is there ever a bad time to go window shopping for French fairytale homes? The allure of quitting urban life, recruiting your best friends to go all in on the adventure and living out the rest of your days fixing up your French fortress with an endless supply of wine…

Mother & Daughter Buy an Abandoned Chateau, Invite You to Stay as they Restore It

Back in 2013, we broke a story about a couple that bought an abandoned chateau and started a blog to share their journey. Widespread interest, longing and general FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) ensued on the internet. Several years later, we’ve found a similar fairytale: an architect from Austria, Elisabeth Herring, and her daughter Valerie, adopt a neglected 16th…

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