House and Grounds - General(Public)
The Front of the house faces south, and is built atop a limestone pavement escarpment (like that of Malham Cove
https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...7/7b/Malham_Cove.jpg.... as featured in Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows), which rises about 1000ft above the river valley below. The edge of the escarpment is about 100m(250ft) from the perimeter wall at the front. The road way turns left out of the gate, although there does appear to be a path at the edge of the escarpment on the RHS of the gate (if you're facing south). The regional geography is very much akin to the central southern hills of China along the Lijang, especially around Xiangshan.
Exiting the House via the main foyer leads you under the front portico, a gravel driveway leads away left and right. The right hand branch turns after about 20 yards and heads towards the main gate, some 300 yards away across the lawn which is ringed by a variety of trees. Immediately across the gravel drive is a large ornamental pond. A smaller branch of the driveway continues along the front of the house to the right.
The left hand branch of the driveway, continues along the remainder of the front of the house, until it meets a metalled road, about 20m(65ft) beyond the end of the Ballroom. The metalled road, perpendicular to the house heads towards the perimeter wall before turning right and sweeping towards the main gate, about 20m(65ft) before one of the strange columnar towers that ring the perimeter 6m(20ft) in from the wall.
The columnar towers are all about 6m(20ft) in diameter and 6m(20ft) to the base of the domed roof, and appear to have no means of access. They are spaced approximately every 500m(1600ft), although they are closer together along the left-hand side perimeter wall at the front of the house. The perimeter wall is 3m high and appears to be made from decorative brick, although it is actually about 1m thick and buttressed to 1.6m every 10m(32ft). The buttresses are 0.6m(2ft) wide.
The metalled road itself continues down the side of the ballroom before turning left and descending into the basement garage. A smaller gravelled roadway continues towards the stables, walled gardens, and greenhouses at the back right (if your facing the house, left if you're facing the gateway) of the house.
The total perimeter of the grounds is about 6 miles(9.6km). The NE quadrant of the grounds behind the house is given over to Green Houses, Arboreal Houses, Walled Gardens, Allotment plots, orchards, and small agricultural fields, with a collection of wooden "sheds" acting as storage, potting sheds, and utility buildings.
There is also another gateway in the NE corner, adjacent to which are 14 single story Japanese style timber small court yard buildings arranged around 3 sides and a much larger 2 story Japanese style courtyard building. Each of the smaller dwellings has it own substantial garden, most of which are also given over to growing herbs and vegetables.
There are 12 greenhouses(completed Mai->Ota 32), aligned W->E each 180m long and 30m wide spaced 6m apart. To the North of the Greenhouses are the 12 Kitchen Gardens, each garden 240mx180m. About 60 additional vegetable plots each 30mx10 exist to the North and East of the Kitchen Gardens. There are 18m gaps between the plots through which are planted a mixture of fruit and nut trees – tree spacing is 6m N->S and 12m W->E with the trees being 3m from the plot edges. A hard path runs down the centre of the tree avenue. The first 100m of the corridor between the Kitchen Gardens on the western side is given over to a mixture of sheds and compost bins.
There are also six arboreal houses (completed Zavax 33) for tender shrubs and evergreens each 240m long and 27m wide with double half cylinder roof, each half cylinder apex being 15m, with the central channel being 10m in height and 3m wide. Three of the houses are netted to provide 60% shade and are temperature and humidity controlled.
One is used specifically for growing Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Cassia 13m, 10-32C,4-38, 12 off planted 33x2,34,35x2,36,37x2,38,39x2,40; Cinnamomum Burmannii 15m, 20-28, 11-34, 4 off planted 34,36,38,40; Coppice at +10years,harverst +7 after coppice/harvest)
One is used for growing Bourbon Vanilla on Bamboo, whilst a third is used for growing Coffea arabica. The trees here are all fresh cultivars from specimens harvested from wild trees in Yemen. Shrubs are grown to 3m tall on a 8 year rotation. Each bed in the house (11m wide) supports 4 rows of 78 plants. All current propagation is via cuttings taken in year 7.
One provides the propagation house for growing and propagating seeds and plants for the other arboreal house crops.
The stables, a timber long barn, are about half the size of one of the green houses, about 90m long and 15m wide, and has stall boxes of varying size for about 30 horses, a substantial tack room, and an indoor exercise arena. Currently there are 4 horses in residence, 2 stallions Lexicon (Black Arabian,16.2 hands, Cordelia's) and Salazar(Chestnut Arabian, 16 hands, Charlotte's), and 2 mares, Autumn Gold(Light Chestnut Anglo-Arabian, 15.4 hands) and Raindrop (Grey Anglo-Arabian, 15.5 hands).
To the NW of the rear of the house is a substantial area given over to Japanese gardens, including a substantial area of ponds, running water, and waterfalls, some ornamental, some natural. There are also 3 "gravel" gardens.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:09, Sat 24 Sept 2022.
