Tuesday 5 February 2013

Berkwell Manor


Berkwell Manor is a late Second Empire Mansion with elements of Gothic Revival, constructed in the 1880s. It resides somewhere in the United States, most likely somewhere like New England or Virginia. It houses haunted tropes and idioms as far as the eye can see. There are elements from most American haunted houses, most notably reflecting the Psycho house and as well as a shout out to the Amityville Horror house. Basically the brainchild of a lack of the Sims 3 and a great love for the architecture of the macabre in general. There are 3 main floors, including a tower with a mansard style roof, and a storm cellar basement (which probably hides a dark secret).


The overhead floor plan of the entire house (excluding the basement)
Main Hallway/Entrance Hall showing stairs leading to second floor gallery (including suit of armor, grandmother clock, an evil looking fainting couch or chaise longue, beneath painted portraits; An image of Berkwell Manor, and portrait of a rather timid young lady)


The Dining Room, with a generous helping of creepy items added (including haunted grandfather clock, a portrait of a rather grumpy looking Victorian man,  a rotted corpse on the dining table, dusty draped curtains, and a carved pillar leading to a wall adorned decorative moulding archway, complete with creepy faces)
The Bedroom, situated on the second floor, overlooking the front facade of the house. More draped curtains and clocks, this time in the form of a demonic wind-up wall clock. Dead flowers. Small Dickensian style silhouette portraits. A destroyed lamp. A small four-poster bed with carved sculpting. A rather disturbing vanity table adorned by broken mirror...probably full of broken dreams



Sculpture depicting Death, or perhaps its not a sculpture...  I haven't decided yet. His right arm is holding a candle that represents one's life, which at this moment is snuffed out. His left hand carries an old pendulum clock. The clock depicts that time has run out, as the hands do not appear on its face, and the pendulum is still. The twelve candles adorning the draped menacing figure, oozing molten wax over his cloak, represent the months of the year, and the 4 candles above the clock's face represent the four seasons. The pendant depicting a single bee is used to represent the tirelessness of which death operates, and the burning wax is a metaphor for time.


2 comments:

  1. Richard, I absolutely love the interior drawing with the stairs and clock! The whole lot of these drawings are incredible.

    Catherine

    http://catherineaskew.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Awe thank you Catherine, much appreciated ^_^ I am also impressed with your work showing Austria. Reminds me of the architecture in Germany :)

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