“You are now In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow
At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore
Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more
Yet in its depth what treasures!”
– P.B. Shelley

My ducklings, my precious, precious kittens! Something kind of incredible happened!

As part of the long, lovely weekend when Caitlin came into town from Paris, we ran away to Spitalfields on a Saturday to wander and eat food – two of my favorite things. I wanted to show her my favorite dilapidated old house and press my face against its dirty windows again, but when I rounded the corner to Princelet Street, I stopped short.

The door was wide open.
“Is something going on?” Caitlin asked.
“No idea, let’s find out,” I exclaimed and practically dragged her in the front door.

We were met by a couple of members of a film crew who seemed perplexed to have two insistent Yankee girls descend on them but I quickly exclaimed my love for the house and asked if we could just look around it for a few minutes. Which is how Caitlin and I were taken around the house by a VP and Series Producer of 3DD Productions and given a sneak peak into their work on upcoming series, Raiders of the Lost Art, which explores how many of the world’s great art treasures have simply vanished.

I worried perhaps that the inside would disappoint compared to the gorgeous decay of the outside…it didn’t! The basement was too dark for my phone (when will I learn to sling my camera on my shoulder before leaving the house?!) and of course I’m not going give you any sneak peeks of the Raiders set. You’ll have to wait to see them on TV.

Light switches from the early days of electricity, old toilets with chain pull flushes, creaky floors and stairs, textiles that have shredded or sagged with age, and dust covering everything with a light veil of mystery. It’s a perfect set for film (I’ve actually identified a few scenes from recent TV programs as having been shot there, including A Very British Murder with my professional girl crush, Dr. Lucy Worsley). We could have been in Miss Havisham’s cozier, less bridal casual rooms.