Monday 27 May 2019

Other Worlds, Other Times: Talliston House

I had the privilege to escape this world and into a collection of other lands recently. At least that's what it felt like. To step off this world and explore times and places I would never experience except in the books I read and write. 

Talliston House looks unassuming from the outside; just another semi-detached house surrounding a green in an Essex town. But it is far more than it seems. Like a modern library building holding thousands of worlds in its books, Talliston is a museum, a ship taking you on a journey through one man's dreams, not one house but many full of stories and history and imagination. Each room of the house is a different place, a different time, all inspired by real places, real buildings, all with stories to tell. 

It starts as soon as you walk through the arched gate and into an English country garden and the scents of herbs fill the air. A standing sarsen stone at the top of the garden hints at the mystery and history this house could hold. But whatever you expect, this house is more.The level of detail shows the passion that has gone into the twenty-five years spent creating these worlds within a house. The rooms are full of objects found across the Northern Hemisphere, and others made bespoke by artisans, friends and family. Along with the labyrinthine house is a book, The Stranger's Guide to Talliston by John Tarrow, a young adult fantasy adventure novel inspired by the house he has created. 

I joined a group of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Central East writers and illustrators for a day of time travel to explore, write, draw, or just sit and be immersed in the world of Talliston. The photos that follow were all taken from my Samsung phone's camera so they are not the usual quality but I hope they give a sense of the creativity and passion that has gone into Talliston House and that it inspires you to visit one day and to read the book. 

I didn't get any photos of the English garden but once the tour through the house was complete we all settled in the Fountain Courtyard, Ireland, 1933, to drink tea or coffee and catch up before starting to sketch, write, or explore some more. 

And so my camera's journey starts in the courtyard where the sun shone bright on the new summer flowers. Bees buzzed around the lavender (although they were a little camera shy!), water bubbled from a hidden fountain and the courtyard beckoned me to find its hidden treasures. 




A frog trapped in stone, clinging to a flower pot and desperate to catch a fly.




A grape vine dappled the sunlight streaming into the pergola, making it a haven when sitting in the sun got to be too much.





































The Cabin, Canada, 1948. Underneath the railway sleeper floorboards is hidden a full size "tipi" just waiting to be taken out into a field to stretch its leather wings.







The Watchtower, Snowdonia, Wales, 1887. A Victorian Christmas in Wales made to look like the 13th Century castle keep of Llewylyn Ab Iowerth, Dolwyddelan.














 The Office. New York, 1929






The Hall of Mirrors. Italy, 1992.






The Haunted Bedroom. Scotland, 1911.








The Room of Dreams, Spain 1977



The Starhouse, Japan, 2282.
















The Voodoo Kitchen, New Orleans, 1954









It felt strange to leave this place later that day. As if we truly had travelled far from the England we knew and into the world of Talliston. Even when we were sitting in the Fountain Courtyard, we were oblivious to the neighbouring houses. England went on without us while we stepped out of time and into another. I regret not taking my canon camera and not taking photos of The Labyrinth (Great Dunmow, England, 1852), The Boathouse (Norway, 1986) and The Treehouse Sanctuary (Cambodia, 1965) but perhaps I will return in the future to be inspired by Talliston again.

For more information on Talliston visit: https://www.talliston.com