The Story Begins …

At Architectural Classics, we love history … obviously! The opportunity recently came up to piece together some historical puzzles, return some history to its rightful spot, and look at some gorgeous photos of ancient Welsh architecture in the process.

You can imagine the feeling in the office! We haven’t even needed coffee this week.

It is a twisted tale indeed, but here is the story of this imposing, strong and masculine chandelier. Starting at the start … St Donat’s castle in Wales was built at a time unknown (how romantic :-), but the parts of it still standing that were earliest built were owned by the de Hawey family in the twelfth century. Later, one of the de Hawey daughters, Joan, married Sir Peter Stradling. We hear that she always burnt poor old Pete’s toast, and had very strange nose-hair …and so ownership of the castle was seen as a fair exchange for the liability and inconvenience of being responsible for Joan (!). Or perhaps it was to do with the custom of wives’ property being passed to their husbands upon marriage, the reasoning is a bit blurry. Anyway! The Stradling family owned the castle for many centuries – until 1738 in fact, when Thomas Stradling died, and a John Tyrwhitt ended up buying the castle.

William Randolph Hearst’s Chandelier

It sounds all well and good to own a castle, but several owners found that it costs a bit more than you’d think … the castle fell into a state of disrepair, until the late 1920s, when William Randolph Hearst, owner of several successful magazine titles and newspapers in America, fell in love with it. Mr. Hearst seemed to have an absolute love affair with castles and things medieval, and fortunately for him, had the money to indulge such an expensive habit. Even worse than skiing, for a cost to enjoyment ratio in a hobby!Mr. Hearst’s cost-enjoyment ratio blew out considerably after he bought St Donat’s in 1925. He did some things that many of us can (although probably don’t!) only dream about. For instance, he increased the number of bathrooms in the castle from 3 to 35. He also had it centrally heated (creating a large portion of the greenhouse effect that we see today!), and assembled a large collection of silver and armour at St Donat’s. Three tennis courts and a heated swimming pool were built, and the castle was connected to mains water. The entire castle was also refurbished, obviously, to match the lifestyle of a media magnate back in the 1920s. Sir Charles Allom, who decorated Buckingham Palace, was hired by Randolph Hearst to redecorate St. Donat’s also. The chandelier that we were contacted about though, is one of the original furnishings of the castle … this is evident in the fact that the original was made to house candles without the wax dripping on the floor. We doubt that even Hearst had the money to pay somebody to light and change candles, when electricity was freely available.

Hearst managed to spend only a few months there in total, though. He took a summer break there for a month or so each year, bringing many prominent friends with him, who enjoyed the atmosphere and luxuries of the castle in true Bacchanalian style – with wine and women and all life’s finer things. Rare foods and drink abounded, in a sad and bitter display for the people who lived in the countryside surrounding the castle. At the time of Hearst’s ownership of St Donat’s, the Great Depression was in full swing. While many were re-using tallow or wax for their lighting, keeping the paper from butter to rub on cake tins, and often going to bed hungry, there was a centrally heated castle just down the road that wasn’t even used for 11 months of the year. However sad the situation, though, history’s beauty is in truth.

The Grey Area …

And all good things must end … by 1936 there was not much money to be had anywhere around the world, even for William Randolph Hearst. Finances were difficult, and St Donat’s castle was supposed to be sold. Inconveniently though (!) there was a war on. The castle was requisitioned as an officer’s training centre. After this, Hearst’s National Magazine company continued to look after the castle, although on a much smaller scale than when Hearst was actually visiting. After a near disaster in the 50s when somebody planned to turn the castle into a caravan park (can you imagine?), the castle was bought to be turned into Atlantic College in 1960.

And somewhere in the time between 1925 and 1960 is where the striking chandelier comes into the picture. William Randolph Hearst gave the chandelier to Dr. Frank Barham, who was the president and publisher of the Los Angeles Herald Express from 1927 to 1947, and Vice President and Director of Hearst Consolidated Publications Inc.& Hearst Publishing Co. Inc. Dr. Frank Barham was also sent to Europe to buy things for the castle at San Simeon in California.
We are guessing that Dr Frank Barham came to St Donat’s with Mr. Hearst in the early days of his work at the LA Herald. Mr. Hearst did make a present of the chandelier to Dr Frank Barham. When Dr Frank Barham died, it was passed on to his daughter Patte, who was told at some stage that it was once hung at St Donat’s.

In the name of keeping the past, and its lessons alive – we would love to know the true story of how it came to be in Frank and then Patte Barham’s possession.
- Was the chandelier in the castle when William Hearst bought it, or did it come in as part of his extensive collection of antiques while he was refurbishing?
- Is the chandelier Welsh, and part of the castle’s region’s history?
- Whose are the coats of arms on the chandelier? Hopefully the rich symbolism of the chandelier, the main features of which are the coats of arms, can point us in the direction of its most original owners.

The chandelier itself has a very no-nonsense style about it – it is designed in a very masculine, structurally sound yet ornate and decorative way. While many chandeliers are imposing in size in their diameter or from side to side, this one is unusual in that it is seven feet tall. It is obviously made to be hung in a hall or another place with a very high ceiling – it would touch the floor of many modern houses! It has also been modified from the original by being converted from candle power to electricity, so has obviously been used for its original purpose (fairly) recently, not merely being hung for good looks.

We would love to be part of the return of this chandelier to its proper owners! The internet has made information available on a scale that has never been seen before … and we know that all the knowledge of the world is out there, in your very own brains. Can you help us?

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