Transcript
BILLIE
Wow, what a pretty room!
ALFIE
This is the saloon. It’s one of the oldest rooms in the pavilion.
BILLIE
It doesn’t look very old.
ALFIE
That’s because it keeps getting redecorated. George had it decorated at least three times!
BILLIE
So why is it so old?
ALFIE
Because it was part of a farmhouse before George arrived. George extended the farmhouse and called it the Marine Pavilion, and after that he built this pavilion.
BILLIE
So there have been three buildings here?
ALFIE
That’s right, three. The original farmhouse, then the Marine Pavilion, and then this pavilion.
BILLIE
And did the same person design all three?
ALFIE
No, an architect called Henry Holland built the Marine Pavilion in 1787. Then another architect called John Nash built this pavilion in 1815. This room was part of all of them. We don’t know who built the original house, but it was a very long time ago.
BILLIE
(IMPRESSED) Look by the door where we came in. You can see the different layers.
ALFIE
John Nash had to make an iron frame because the dome above our heads is so heavy.
BILLIE
If you look back the way we’ve come, you can along the gallery to the Banqueting Room, and if you look the other way, you can see along another gallery to another big room. It’s like a mirror image, with this round room in the middle.
ALFIE
And all the gold you can see, that’s real gold leaf. It’s like very thin sheets of gold, so thin that it’s like tissue paper.
BILLIE
And if you look up, it’s like looking up at the sky!