This glowery figure guards Labassa’s doors.

Hi de ho, FrillyShirteans! Lady Tanah and I spent the day touring two lovely Victorian houses, now lovingly maintained by the National Trust. Labassa, currently undergoing restoration, is to my eye paticularly noteworthy for its trompe-l’Å“il ceiling and wonderful Arabesque lit alcoves. Rippon Lea is a complete estate of house, outbuilding and grounds, laid out as the home of another Sir Frederick – Sir Frederick Sargood; soft furnishing merchant, philanthropist, the son of a radical and a precursor of governmental industrial relations himself. Rippon Lea’s decor is very much a meeting of the finest elments of Victorian and 1920s and 1930s aesthetics, formal but feminine and comfortable. Even finer are the surrounding gardens: designed from the beginning to be self-sufficient with regards to watering, they combine exotic and native plants to beautiful effect, with an ornamental waterfall and plenty of happy ducks; a literal oasis of lush, dense life. Contemporary Australia could certainly learn a lot about combining beauty and sustainability so.

Go here to help the National Trust, and click the image below to view Sir Frederick and Lady Tanah’s gallery of the properties!