York Cottage

The York Cottage is a country house (English: cottage ) on the site of the royal residence of Sandringham House in the English county of Norfolk. The name derives from the future King George V, who as Duke of York received the building from his father as a wedding gift and the building for 33 years, lived with his family. The house was the birthplace of several members of the royal family and is now managing the property as an office building and service apartments.

History and current use

Queen Victoria acquired the grounds of Sandringham House in 1862 as a country residence for the Crown Prince Albert Edouard. After the demolition of the building was originally located there until 1870, the current main building Sandringham House in the Gothic Revival style and architectural borrowings from the Tudor period. Since this royal palace occasionally not sufficient to accommodate the numerous overnight visitors, a quarter mile from the main house was the Prince of Wales in the 1870s to build a guest house away. This building initially was called Bachelor 's Cottage and stylistically oriented also on Tudor style, which failed restrained the decorative elements in this rather small house.

After the wedding of the Duke of York with Mary of Teck in 1893, the couple received the villa as a gift which the designation York bares Cottage. After the couple had spent his honeymoon here, they use the house regularly from now on as a country residence. Five of the six children of the couple came here to the world: Albert, later George VI, Mary, Henry, George and John. . Even after his accession to the throne in 1911 preferred George V during his stays at Sandringham the small York Cottage, leaving the large main house of his mother Queen Alexandra.

The Simple Life in York Cottage was rather unusual for the royal family and was very different from the representative style, the Edward VII used in its palaces. The heir to the throne and became King Edward VIII later told about his childhood experiences in York Cottage American Life magazine, describing how cramped the royal family lived with her six children in this house. Comparatively little staff took care of here at the royal residents and the interior was rather modest. Thus, the walls of the Father's work room were covered with the same red fabric as they were common in the pants of the French military. Although the building already had electricity, but had only one bathroom. This was only available to parents, while the children had to make do with a wash bowl.

During his stay in York Cottage George V was preferred after the hunt. In order to have more time for this pastime, he left in 1901 to introduce Sandringham all clocks for half an hour. These Sandringham Time was retained until his death in 1936. Today, York Cottage is the management of Sandringham. Here, the telephone exchange of the property is located, and some rooms are used as official residences for employees. The house can not be visited by the public.