Uncluttered rooms and conversational groups

'The Stucco Room' depicts the house in its late 19th century guise.

The rooms are less cluttered than might have been expected at this date; indeed, they are less crowded than they were to become during the tenancy of Ellen Thomas-Stanford. Allowance must, however, be made for the fact that rooms might have been re-arranged before being painted - the disposition of chairs in the Drawing Room bears little relation to any usual arrangement; chairs were inevitably placed in groups designed to encourage conversation. The furniture shown suggests that the house was refurnished in the 1870s and 1880s with a mixture of 18th century pieces, reproductions, and a sprinkling of ebonised Aesthetic Movement tables.

Today, there are few objects which can be connected with Mrs Macdonald's tenancy. With few exceptions, the furnishings were dispersed among her four daughters following her death in 1903. When Charles and Ellen Thomas-Stanford moved in in 1905 the house was almost bare.