I help out at a heritage property that has rooms set out in different eras – there is no family ownership now, the last was back in the 1990s, when it was handed over to the charitable trust upon their demise. So there is no one era for which the house is renowned. The rooms do contain a few pieces of furniture left from various owners and the last tenants – of whom was a real society doyenne and entertained in the Hall at every given opportunity. She had cocktail parties in the grand hall, so replaced the drab, if more historically apt armorial features with spledidly huge sofas and generously proportioned armchairs. The ‘chinese room’, and all historical houses have one of those, don’t they?!, has remarkable wallpaper which needs very special care – and her matching cocktail chairs are in stunning green fabric to match the hand painted lovebirds. It’s a delight to hear the visitors making enthusasiastic comments about these rooms.