One of the Busiest Weeks of My Life!
...and I'm telling you ALL about it!
Dear lovely friends!
May is in full swing here, and the days are running together in the most wonderful way. There are first lettuces coming out of the kitchen garden, a tapestry hung in the West Room, and I have been dashing about the UK…I even did a small dash to Italy in the middle of it all. I’m so glad to pull up a chair and share it with you.
In this newsletter, I’ll be sharing:
A second print run for the book, and a leap up the Amazon charts
Speaking in Surrey on all things Mapperton
Crafted: a panel on keeping the great house alive
The kitchen garden begins to give
The West Room and what’s coming next
On the cover of Dorset Magazine
A few stolen days in Italy
Let’s dive in!
A second print run and a real leap up the charts
I have the most wonderful news to share: Secrets of an English Country House: A Year at Mapperton has gone into a SECOND print run, and we haven’t even reached publication day yet! I genuinely cannot quite believe it.
I sent an email out yesterday with a small nudge to pre-order, and overnight the book leapt from around 22,000 on Amazon to roughly 6,000. It is a reminder of how much each of you actually moves the needle when you click that button.
If you’ve been meaning to pre-order, this is the moment!
And if you have already: thank you, truly. Every single copy helps.
Speaking in Surrey
Earlier in the week I was the guest speaker at the AWSurrey International Women’s Group in Surrey, where I spoke about all things Mapperton, Alberta, and the American Countess…and how we are preserving Mapperton through innovative new channels like our YouTube series.
I always begin with a little history of the Montagu family, with a special place for the first and the fourth Earls, before moving into how the house and its stories are being kept alive today.
A lovely, lively room! I enjoyed every minute!
Crafted: keeping the great house alive
I had such a good time on a panel at Crafted alongside Malcolm and two wonderful fellow panellists—Pratyush Sarup, Director at House & Garden UK, and Dan Jackson, Head of Historic Buildings at Historic Royal Palaces.
We talked about how to keep the great house alive—particularly the innovative ways we are using content, from YouTube to Substack to social, to bring these places (and the people who shaped them) back into the conversation.
Malcolm, of course, has had such a hand in the recent rearrangement and redecoration of so many of our rooms at Mapperton, so it was a real treat to be on a panel with him.
The kitchen garden begins to give
There is something deeply satisfying about the first harvest of the year. We have just begun pulling lovely things out of the kitchen garden—mizuna, purple frills, speckled oak leaf lettuce, and the first radishes of the season.
Christine is using all of it in the salads at the Coach House Cafe, which means if you come down to visit, what’s on your plate has been growing here only days before. It’s the kind of detail that tells you the season has properly started.
The West Room…what’s coming next?!
The Peacock Tapestry is now hung in the West Room. I haven’t yet opened the doors to the public, because the other Heritage rooms it sits alongside are still in the middle of being redecorated and have only just come back into our hands. I’d rather wait and let you see the whole thing at once!
I’ll also be moving all of my textiles in there, and over the next couple of weeks I will be telling you about a huge collaboration project that will help us raise funds for the proper redecoration of the West Room. It is genuinely one of the most exciting things I’ve put together at Mapperton.
I’m bringing on a wonderful collaborator, Rory Hutton, who has worked with the King…and Malcolm will of course be involved as well. More very soon!
A Couple Spots Left!
Speaking of…
For those of you who have been waiting: there are still a couple of spots left at our next Textiles & Tapestries Retreat, running 1–4 September!
This time, guests will be stitching from a motif taken from Alberta’s House of Worth gown. It’s the same gown now on display in the library, alongside our Alberta exhibition.
It is a properly special detail, and one I am thrilled we can offer.
If you’ve been thinking about it, this is the moment. The last seats tend to go quickly.
The Countess of Sandwich Society is growing!
I’m a little overwhelmed by this one: the Countess of Sandwich Society has nearly 2,000 members! And almost 500 of those members are active, meaning they’re joined at a paid tier and get all of the perks!
It is incredible to see how many of you have pulled up a chair.
And let me tell you…something incredible is in the works that I can’t announce just yet. But if you’re been thinking about joining, this might be JUST the right time!
On the cover of Dorset Magazine!
I had the loveliest surprise last week: I’m going to be on the cover of Dorset Magazine!
We did a big photo shoot for it, and you’ll see me in some of my most-loved pieces—my gold charity-shop find, my staple red boiler suit, and yes, the frilly cap I’ve been wearing since lockdown, when I started swimming in the 18th-century pool.
The issue will be out at the end of the summer. I cannot wait for you to see it.
A few stolen days in Italy
Straight after the Textiles & Tapestries Retreat, I jumped on a plane and disappeared to my little house in Italy for a few much-needed days. Bliss.
Of course, I filmed all of it for you. I visited a couple of brilliant flea markets and did a collaboration with two other YouTubers (whose channels many of you watch, I think). The episode is coming to Julie in Italy soon.
Thank you, as ever, for being here. Every pre-order, every Countess of Sandwich Society sign-up, every kind note about the YouTube channel…they keep this all moving. I feel very lucky to be sharing it with you.
With love and gratitude,
Julie
Proud of the Peacock