Postcard from Hardwick Hall

The scale of the windows at Hardwick Hall impressed me with their bling, but they must have been even more stunning in the sixteenth century. The entire house seems more glass than stone with a light and feminine feel to its construction all the way up to the filigree-fine ornamentation on the roof. This is a building dressed to impress.

Things get even less macho indoors with soft furnishings the main feature rather than paintings or furniture. And I loved the administrative triumph of the drawer-lined audit room. I almost wanted to live at Hardwick. I just suspect those huge windows of draughtiness.

The Hall couldn't be described as domestic in scale, but it's not stately or defensive. It's just beautiful.