Light in the old English house

What I love about the old English house is the subtleness of light. The allowance of light seems to have been carefully taken into account. Windows are normally long and narrow and planted with astragal bars. Light travels through multiple glass panes to induce a strong sense of nostalgia. The harsh down lighting is forbidden because it casts ominous shadows unless the drama is considered necessary.

To most middle class households, creating a yellowish ambiance is the core of home making. Light does not need to penetrate everything, family secrets, or fully stocked cupboard for example. In vast Victorian mansions there are always drawers that never been lit and remain in the dark much like Victorian prudery. Only a certain amount of glow is allowed to skip through the entrance where three or four walls crammed with ancient family photos hung edge to edge.

It is a ceremony to draw all the curtains down after dusk, to avoid the refection of ghostly shadows, or evil spirits. The most haunted room should be half buried in darkness, in which every spider can surf freely inside its webs. Its interior is often covered with olive green paint, or vintage Morris & Co wallpapers; both absorb luminosities to their greatest capacities. Its occupants don’t need to be too innovative in lighting, best to be the vehicles through which time slow-cooks the light until the last struggle with rays perishes in their eyes.