Beachstone House, 46 - 47 Swain Street - Interior Features
Original cast iron fireplace with a slate surround, one of six original fireplaces in the property
Now painted white this fireplace would have been finished to simulate marble. The tiles also original are a little worse for wear but can be restored. It is possible to buy identical replacements from specialist firms.
The Living Quarters
The name beachstone house almost certainly comes from the paths that ran around the outside of the house with decorative patterns not unlike the cobbled area outside the museum (some areas remain). A portion of the wall adjacent to the car park is considerable older.
Floor Tiles
Banister
Staircase and Hallway
The hallway has a high ceiling reaching 18 feet from the stairwell. This is typical of Edwardian houses of this period although from an aesthetic point of view the ceiling height particularly in the sitting room is disproportional to the floor area.
Decorative plaster arch more Victorian than Edwardian (made from a 19th Century mould)
Original stained glass above the front door
Servants bell case
A rather modest servants bell case activated by a wire system. Certainly this was for the live in maid. The bell system was supplied by J.J. Foy of Minehead. A relative perhaps?
Remaining servants bell in the master bedroom. Made from black porcelain
All the doors in the house would have had white porcelain knobs and escutcheons.
Original pitch pine door
Unlike the 18th Century and early years of the 19th Century they were not painted. Pitch pine appears in abundance in the latter part of the Victorian period until the first world war.
Ceiling Section