South Lakes Elizabethan mansion house, Levens Hall and Gardens, is anticipating an influx of visitors from a specific hobby niche, thanks to becoming the backdrop for a photographic shoot that communicates the property’s essence to a worldwide audience. It is also planning a fabulous Christmas display to link with the artist behind the shoot.
The Levens Hall gardens were chosen as the setting for a display of quilts and patchworks by the world-renowned quilting and patchwork fabric designer, Kaffe Fassett. 18 different Fassett quilt and cushion patchwork designs were positioned around Levens Hall and Gardens last October to create a true extravaganza of colour and form. The associated images now feature in the acclaimed textile artist’s 28th patchwork and quilting book, ‘Quilts at an English Manor House’.
Levens Hall and Gardens is showcased extensively in the 144-page book, with quilts displayed in both garden and Hall settings. The topiary tree known as the ‘Top Hat’, for instance, is the backdrop for a ‘Dark Boxes’ quilt. Fassett’s ‘Blooming Columns’ quilt even makes a star of the estate’s much-beloved vintage tractor.
The man known as the ‘king of colour’ and the founding father of modern American patchwork and quilting culture, has explained how he had “lusted after” a project at Levens Hall and Gardens since arriving in England in 1964. He describes Levens Hall’s environment as a “gem”, a “fabulous English garden” and an “incredibly ‘English’ garden and manor house.”
Kaffe Fassett background
Born in San Francisco, he became known in the UK largely thanks to his associations with the V&A Museum in London, where he was the first living textile artist to have a solo exhibition, back in 1988. This inspired his landmark book, ‘Kaffe Fassett at the V&A’.
In 2005, he channelled inspiration gained in his younger years at a party in New York. Having never forgotten the vision of stunning Swedish white paper fans decorating a Christmas tree, he produced a range of extraordinary fans, as decorations for a Christmas tree at the V&A, bringing his own inimitable aesthetic to the project.
How Levens Hall and Gardens features in Quilts at an English Manor House
In ‘Quilts at an English Manor House’, he highlights how Levens Hall and its “eye-catching location” was the “perfect foil” for his new collection. The classical and whimsical combine, in his view, to allow his designs to shine, whilst the geometry of the topiary is often reflected in his patterns.
One of his favourite layouts is named ‘Purple Passage’ and comprises half-square triangles. On arriving at Levens Hall and Gardens for the photographic shoot organised by photographer Debbie Patterson, he believed the geometry of this design echoed the architecture of the sculpted topiary trees, some of which are over 330 years old. He even felt the twisted branches beneath ancient hedges offered a perfect setting for his quilts, whilst a “jungle” of garden plants in a corner of the garden allowed a ‘Baby’ quilt to shine.
The colour, creativity and timeless beauty of the Levens Hall gardens, as he puts it, has consequently been showcased globally within the patchwork and quilting community through his book and associated videos. This is highly fitting, as Levens Hall is also home to the earliest known English patchwork.
The oldest English patchwork and Levens Hall and Gardens’ Fassett Fans Christmas Display
Created by the wife and daughters of late 17th and early 18th century owner, Colonel James Grahme, roughly around 1708, it is formed from imported Indian cottons handprinted in exotic designs. It is believed the design of this patchwork, which can be viewed inside Levens Hall, reflects the ceiling of the Chapel Royal at St James’ Palace. This was a place in which Dorothy Grahme would have prayed, in her role as the maid of honour to Queen Catherine of Braganza.
To truly drive the connection to the world of quilting, patchwork and Kaffe Fassett’s work home, however, Levens Hall and Gardens has something very special planned. As part of its Christmas celebrations in 2026, it is privileged to be welcoming some of Kaffe Fassett’s original fans from the 2005 V&A Christmas tree. Levens Hall and Gardens will be displaying these in its own tribute to Kaffe Fassett’s work.
Owner of Levens Hall and Gardens, Richard Bagot, says, “We were delighted to become the backdrop for Kaffe Fassett’s 28th book and thrilled to know quilters across the globe are able to appreciate and admire our fabulous gardens and interiors as a result. Now, we are excitedly looking forward to the unique Christmas display we will create, using some of Kaffe Fassett’s original fans. It is sure to be one of the talking points of the Christmas season in the Lake District this year.”
Anyone wishing to provide a friend or family member with a unique gift can buy ‘Quilts at an English Manor House’ in the Levens Hall and Gardens gift shop. Christmas admission is by buying tickets on the day. To find out more, head to the What’s On page at www.levenshall.co.uk
