Holly Black, half of the duo behind the enchanting Spiderwick Chronicles (the New York Post calls it "vintage Victorian fantasy," so you should seek out a copy for yourself or your steampunklets) mentioned her "hidden" library a couple months back, and I sought her out and cajoled some pictures (although truth be told it wasn't that hard...).Our tour, guided by Ms. Black...
The bookshelf, closed
And now, slightly ajar
And now, open into the sorta secret library.
The secret door from the other side.
The hidden door is from hiddendoors.com and installed by our
contractor during the renovation. There are a few other small hidden things in our house, but this is really the most fun.
Looking into the library. There is a speakeasy door (ed. note: a door with a small window hole in it that can be opened to see who is on the other side.) on the other side, that leads outside -- the library is in the basement, but it's a walk-out basement -- which is why the library can only be sort of secret.
The fireplace surround is actually pressed stone. It's from www.mantelsdirect.com. They don't have the specific mantel I got any more, but it's a great place to acquire relatively affordable mantles that look like stone.
My husband wanted to be sure to include his WETA ray gun.I can tell that a lot of love and passion went into this library -- can't you just see a hearty winter meal on that marble table, with a fire roaring and plenty of red wine?
I also wanted to draw your attention to the lighting design -- there's the great chandelier with the mica shade for style, but the library gets most of it's drama from the track lights that highlight the books, panelling, and objects.
Thanks Holly!
More hidden doors.
24 comments:
Wow, so beautiful. I want one now!
Though I had a bit of cognitive dissonance when you referred to Holly as "half of the duo." I'm a fan of her modern faerie tales series first and foremost, so it's weird for me to think of her as half of anything! Then again, the Spiderwick Chronicles are far more steampunk, and nearly as delightful...
This room is amazing. It is cooler than a very cool thing. If I am ever forced to move outside of New York City, I totally want a house with "sort of secret" rooms and hidden passageways. And this Victorian-style decoration is lovely.
Seriously, that must be one of the most beautiful rooms of any era. The coolness factor aside. Cudos.
Oh, wow. I need a secret room full of books. She must feel SO rich.
wow that is so cool, its a beautiful library. I like the candelabra, secret doors you must be rich!!!
bravo!!!!
any more rooms that are complete
post them
WOW. Just wow!
How very Anne Frank.
Dang. I wanna secret library! Heck, I'd even settle for a not-secret library!
Beautiful. If I had a secret library that looked like that I'd be hard pressed to spend a significant amount of time anywhere else.
It brings tears to my eyes to see an old friend who has come so far in life. Congratulations to you Holly & Theo; you both deserve the best in life and I'm so thrilled for you both!
Oh man, I want one, I want one! :)
WANT. Oh my. Go Holly.
Coolest library Ever!
This kind of makes me ache a little bit. Seriously decent.
Those pictures definitely make me want a library in my own home. We have waist-high bookcases scattered here and there throughout the house, but walls covered floor to ceiling with books would be lovely.
This is really cool! Architecture meets literature. I posted it over at readergirlz.
So jellus.
I am another jealous person.
Did the contractor make those bookshelves (book walls?) from scratch?
My ambitions for bookshelves upstairs just went thru the stratosphere.
Oooh. I just realized where I can put a secret door in my place. There isn't any location which would make a good hidden passage... but there *is* a small walk-in closet in a place where nobody would notice the missing space.
Busily sketching a combination of ideas from several websites... I won't be ready to build any time soon, but this does affect my plans for the surrounding space.
The biggest question, outside of hardware details, is whether I will want to use an electromagnetic latch or a mechanical one. Electric lets you do silly things with the release -- think of the Batcave's access button in the old TV serial -- or complicated things involving several non-obvious actions, and might hold more securely in the closed position. Mechanical would be a bit more "period" -- especially for my part of the world, where there were some houses on the Underground Railroad that had such hidden spaces.
This is super-cool! I just drew up plans for my dream house, and it includes a hidden staircase *from* my library to my husband's hidden laboratory in the basement. I <3 Holly Black! Thanks for posting this!
LMHarmon.com
Wow. Just wow.
I am entirely awestruck by this room, and I've now added "Get a secret library" to my Bucket List!
Keshlam: if you do a mechanical switch it could be one of the books on the initial shelf.
I really want one now
OMG! I love the hidden door and the whole library!
AAAAHHHH!!! This library IS WIN!
(I just discovered this blog and I'm sitting here at work scrolling through it all and drooling. Good thing the boss isn't here today.)
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