Where to park your carriage--Mews houses
Posted by Inko on October 06, 1997 at 18:14:41:
In response to Where to park the carriage in London?, written by Arnessa on October 06, 1997 at 17:22:27
] But now I just thought of something. I was visiting a friend who lives in this old Colonial house in rural New England. She has a carriage house that now, of course, is a two-car garage, but it is a beautiful little building with a high ceiling. It made me think how much space you had to have to have a carriage and all. Then I went back to my tiny city apartment, where there's no place to park even a moped. So I'm wondering. Where did the Bingleys and all those folks put their carriages when they were in London? Did they have carriage houses in the city back then? Did you have to pay to house your carriage somewhere?
Arnessa, next time you're in London have a look at some of the big houses in Mayfair, Knightsbridge or Kensington. Right behind them is a small street (more like an alley) called a "mews" which are now filled with delightful small houses. These were where the carriages and horses were kept and, I presume, the coachmen and grooms lived above. They were probably built at the same time as the large house and would have been owned as part of it. Today, of course, they are owned (or on leasehold) separately, and I can tell you the mews houses are really expensive--several hundreds of thousands of pounds at a minimum!! Hope this helps.
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