20 Feb This is your chance to visit Essex’s Talliston House & Gardens
Since 1998, the Invitation to View scheme has allowed the public to go behind the closed doors of some of the most iconic homes in the UK. Visitors get a chance to see around houses that rarely open to individual visitors – or they see something special, which is not part of a standard tour.
In most cases, the tours are led by the owner or a member of the family. Now incorporating more than 85 properties across East Anglia, the Midlands, North West and South West, this year the scheme that already includes Grade I listed halls and exotic gardens, now includes a thee-bedroomed semi-detached ex-council house in Essex.
Yet this is no longer an ordinary house, having been lovingly and painstakingly transformed into thirteen stunning locations, set across a thousand years of history. Each room or garden is infused with a rich story, incorporating more than 1,800 antiques and objects sourced from across the globe. Finished in October 2015 after a 25-year journey, the project explores the concept of the extraordinary within the ordinary – and showing how we all have inside us the power to be whatever we want or can imagine.
Accomplished by one man and his growing team of artists, craftspeople and volunteers – all inspired by the project’s unique vision. “Talliston is designed as a place where time has no power, akin to stepping inside a living, breathing work of art… It is a massive enterprise, and proves that beauty and magic can be found even in the most ordinary of places. And by being included in Invitation To View’s impressive list of historical marvels of architecture, it is a true testament to what our team has achieved.” John Trevillian Creator and Project Lead, Talliston House & Gardens
Invitation To View details: Still a private home, Talliston House & Gardens can only be visited as part of the Invitation To View scheme. Tours must be pre-booked at www.invitationtoview.co.uk/properties/talliston-house-gardens on the last Sunday of each month.
