Eltham Palace

Eltham Palace is owned by English Heritage and although I am often drawn to their properties, I equally often balk at their prices. After a reasonable search on the internet, I located two different 2 for 1 deals, one from a cheap hotel chain, one from an international pizza restaurant chain. These make it good value as theres a fair bit to see inside.

The exterior is a fairly typical mediaval hall, which had been sypathetically extended in the 1930's, which is were the twist comes in. The then owners (the Courtaulds) had a bit of a liking for the Art Deco movement and so the interior is a complete Art Deco fantasy. It's hard to describe individual parts, but from the delightful inlaid wooden scenes by the entrance to the shapes in the stair cases to the black and silver doors the house shows the era at it's best.

I'm not a huge fan of gardens, but this one seemed nice enough, good for a picnic by the moat at any rate.

Definitely NOT what you'd expect in a rather normal south London suburb...