Overview Of Hartman House's Location Hartman House is located in the English countryside, quite a few hours ride from London, as indicated by the red arrow.. It is close to the coast, as can be seen in the far background of the overview, and often the household members and guests take day trips to the beach, weather permitting.
It is also near a river, with one riverfront road being the main access to the house. There is a bridge for access across the river, but this occasionally washes out, cutting Hartman House off from the nearest civilization. There is a small town, just a few houses clustered together, fairly close to Hartman House, just over the bridge and down the river road.
There are some farms in proximity to the house, most are on land owned by the Hartmans and rented to various local folks. They are small, and run as hand to mouth farms, the only rental cost being a portion of the havest.
The nearest manor to Hartman House is over the hill beyond the woods behind them. As such, they are fairly isolated from other people of high station, which explains their familiarity with their staff and various locals, as well as their love of overnight guests.
Overview of the Hartman House Estate
Click on areas of the map for pictures and more information.
Hartman House maintains it's own chapel in the woods, paying for the upkeep of the chapel and the salary of the vicar in residence. In the Victorian era it was considered the responisbility for the local landowners to provide for the moral care of those who rented their lands or were in their employ. All the household staff were given a half day off on Sundays, during which they were required to attend services at the local house of worship; Hartman House is no different.
For some odd reason, Hartman House seems to have a hard time keeping Vicars on the staff... something about the odd goings on in the house and all the very strange confessions they hear day in and day out.
The interior of the Hartman House chapel is a cross between austere and lavish. Only the finest woods were used to craft the pews and pulpit, the best imported, hand woven wool rugs and the loveliest original art pieces grace the interior; however it is also filled with simple wreaths of garden herbs and the design is fairly plain and streamlined, to better focus the mind on worship and prayer. There is a small stove for heat in the front of the chapel.
There are no formal confessionals in the chapel, instead confessions are taken face to face within... or occasionally in the Vicar's private quarters, when a more serious penance is neccesary.
The Vicar's private quarters
are in the upper turret of the chapel. The walls are simple, unfinished stone and the room has been known to grow quite drafty on winter evenings. There is a small fireplace, but Vicars at Hartman House always seem to keep warm, whatever the weather.The bed is iron, and the linens simple cotton. There is little else in the room save candles for light (the chapel has not been equipped with gas lighting), as is only befitting the life of a country VIcar. No furniture is available for storage, though there are pegs on the wall for the Vicar's clothing.
Though no serving girls are responsible for cleaning the Vicar's chambers, several have been found there, scrubbing the floors or performing other, more personal penances.
The chapel has it's own small garden, mostly of herbs and small flowering plants, along the back of the chapel. There are few foods grown here as the Vicar takes his meals with the family at Hartman House on most occasions. However, some of the more industrious Vicars have planted berries and other fruiting plants here and there.
The chapel garden was initially designed as a place of prayer and meditation, hence it's symmetry and tranquil design.
The only way to the Hartman House chapel is a walking path through the woods. Although the path is wide enough for a horse to ride through, most often the household members walk to chapel for services and prayers.
The sides of the pathway are planted with lavender, causing the entire path to have a heavenly, almost otherworldly scent. Small benches are placed here and there along the way for those who need a bit of rest along the way, or for servants wishing to spend a bit of time on their day off in the woods.
Hedge Mazes were first planted hundreds of years earlier, but still retained their popularity in the Victorian Era. Planted as an amusing way to spend time, they were generally contructed of tall boxwood heges, meticulously maintained to retain their shape.
The hedge maze at Hartman House is quite a large labyrinth, scattered here and there with various stone statues and monuments, small benches and resting places. Anyone wishing to explore had best leave several hours free. Lord and Lady Hartman have had to send search parties into the hedge maze after more than one wayward guest.
Some claim, on exiting, that the paths changed behind them as they moved from area to area... only the Lord and Lady Hartman, who designed the layout together, know all of the secrets of the hedge maze.
Hartman House has it's own small orchard to provide the household with fruits and nuts throughout the year. It is planted with several varieties of apple and cherry trees, as well as specimins of peach, apricot, plum, pecan, walnut and almond.
Much of the fall is spent canning the fruits from the trees, Lady Kathryn working alongside the maids and kitchen help, so that the shelves of the Hartman House cold storage shed are always filled with bounty from the orchard. Preserves, jams and jellies are plentiful year round, as well as dried apple rings and dried cherries, and jars filled with nuts.
Nestled among small shrubs and trees between the hedge maze and the orchard is a small white gazebo. This was one of the first outside structures that the Hartmans added to their home, as Lady Kathryn is overly fond of gazebos in general, and her own small white one in particular.
One thing a bit different from most gazebos, is the one at Hartman House has a small trap door in the floor. It is kept locked, but once opened it can be found to contain anything an eager, adventurous couple might wish for on an afternoon of play in the great outdoors.
For the average visitor without a key, the gazebo also has small benches for taking a moment to relax in the shade and enjoy the surrounding gardens.
The Vegetable Garden
Hartman House maintains a large vegetable garden, as did most traditional Victorian homes. The garden is the responsibility of the house and kitchen servants, in as much as the vegetables planted are intended to be consumed by the household throughout the year. Lady Kathryn determines what will be planted, and procures the seeds if need be, though most of the plants at Hartman House are grown from heritage seeds, gathered from the plants the year before.The garden at Hartman House is traditionally kept, with beds of potatoes, turnips, carrots, onions, garlic, squash, leeks, rhubarb, tomatoes, peppers, various lettuces and berries and many different types of herbs. As much as is practical is preserved for the rest of the year. Braids of onions and garlic can be found in the cold storage shed, as well as bushels of other root vegetables.
The rear garden at Hartman House is far more casual than the side garden. It is planted as a cottage style garden, with various types of flowers and herbacious plants tumbled together in flowing beds, a lawn in the center, and a few small statues and garden accents placed throughout. The small stone "staircase to nowhere" is a favorite resting spot in the garden, even though it is covered in ivy and moss.
The lawn in the center of the rear garden is often where the household has their afternoon tea, in nicer weather. Out of view of the photo is a small wrought iron table and chairs, with a bright yellow awning overhead to provide a bit of shade.
Various Sheds line up beside the vegetable garden. The one closest to the house - on the far right in the picture - is the cold storage shed. Built partially into a hill, it works as the refrigerator for the household, keeping various goods cold throughout the seasons.
In the center is the small smokehouse, also used for butchering the hunting spoils of Lord Richard and his guests. It contains a variety of buthering knives and saws, a large workstand, and a firepit that is often at work, leaving a small plume of smoke exiting the peaked roof of the shed.
To the far left is the gardening shed, where all manner of pots and containers, tools and fertilizers can be found for anyone eager (or assigned) to work in the garden. It contains cloth shields for the planted beds in case of storms, as well as large tin watering cans.
Hartman House has a large stable facility, capable of housing several teams of horses. Year round it holds two teams of horses trained to pull a carriage, and one work team of clydesdales for farming and other work, as well as the personal mounts for Lord and Lady Hartman's riding pleasure, and several others provided for guests and higher ranking staff members.
There is a constant population of between four and six stable boys living in the stables. Generally the boys are between 17 - 24 years of age, capable with animals and available for most any other assorted chore a houseguest might need during their stay.
A small stream runs through the Hartman House estate, branching off from the much larger river nearby. Some legends say trolls live under bridges, but only flowers populate the bridge at Hartman House. At least as far as we know!
The bridge is hand laid stone, designed by Lord Richard and built as a summer project by himself and Geoffry.
Built to house the groundskeeper at Hartman House, this cottage is small but functional. The whitewash could use another coat - but Hartman House has lacked a groundskeeper for some time, and so all of the outbuildings could use a bit of work.
The groundskeeper's cottage at Hartman House has a small, simple great room on the first floor, warmed by a fire place that can double for cooking in a pinch. There is a ladder to the loft which contains a simple bed and a few trunks for storage.
The garden to the side of the manor house is far more formal than the rear garden. Meant for entertaining visitors, it has carefully laid paths and sculpted beds of flowers. The hedges are kept meticulously groomed. This garden is on a small rise, overlooking the river below, and the plantings have been planned to showcase the view through the trees to the water.
Formal garden parties are held here when Hartman House is filled with guests, and often luncheons on the lawn are served amid the brightly coloured blooms in the summertime.
