You will never guess where I went yesterday! Actually I'm not sure why I'm asking you all to guess when there are two absolutely huge clues, both in the title and in the picture above this post.
If you are currently thinking "Is that the house where Paloma filmed the video for 'Picking up the Pieces'?" Then you would be correct!
A couple of months ago when the video was first released many of you contacted me to ask where it was filmed. Naturally being intrigued myself I did a bit of digging and managed to find out that the video was filmed at a house called West Wycombe Park which is owned by the National Trust and located just outside of High Wycombe. It is a popular filming location and aside from Paloma's video it has also featured in The Lost Prince (2003) and The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) amongst others.
I decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go and investigate and believe me it looks just as beautiful, grand and glamorous in real life as it does in Paloma's music video! Unfortunately as with most National Trust properties you are not allowed to take photos inside, so I can't show you just how stunning it looked. I did see the grand hall, staircase and a few of the other rooms that feature in the video; however the upstairs was off limits as the family are still living there. One of the highlights was definitely walking into one of the main rooms only to be greeted by the sight of the grounds and lake from the second you stepped into the room because the windows were that huge, it was amazing and so grand! At that moment I felt as though I was in a palace!
Although I can't share the inside with you, I did take a lot of photos of the grounds and the outside of the house, which I am going to share on the remainder of this blog post. I'll also post some caps from the video too, so you can see where they appear. There are some differences between what we see in the video and the house itself, so I will point these out as well.
This is the road Paloma's car drives up at the beginning of the video.
One of the statues which appears at the start of the video as Paloma's car drives to the house.
The statue is actually in the grounds at the back of the house not along the driveway.
Another statue shown at the beginning of the video along the driveway, also in the grounds at the back of the house.
The car in the video arrives at the front of the house but this is the main entrance at the back.
These are the first views of the house as you come up the drive.
Paloma sits on a bench outside this part of the house in the video. Sadly the bench isn't there!!!
But you do get to leave the house this way, as it's the visitors exit.
Just some of the grounds at West Wycombe Park
The back of the house
West Wycombe Brass Band preparing to play a set.
We also got to listen to the West Wycombe Brass Band who were at the house performing a 2 hour set. Which included a number of songs from Disney films and also some of the more traditional marches. Here's a short clip I filmed of them playing 'When You Wish Upon A Star' from Disney's Pinocchio.
So that concludes my trip to West Wycombe Park. Hope you enjoyed having a brief look behind the scenes from my photos. I really enjoyed visiting the house and I would definitely recommend a visit yourself, if you're interested in seeing more because it's wonderful!
Great post! I'm a volunteer at West Wycombe House so it's always good to hear about people enjoying their visit there.
You may be interested to learn that the statue of the horseman that you see as Paloma's car drives to the house is made of fibreglass! It was a prop that came from Pinewood Studios, which Sir Francis Dashwood (the 11th Baronet, and father of the House's current resident, Sir Edward) acquired in exchange for a crate of good champagne.
The House was also used as a set for Madonna's film "WE" and you can see some great interior shots on the Vanity Fair site here: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2011/09/we-cast-slideshow-201109#slide=1
And weddings are often held there, here's some photos of a recent one, again with one or two nice interior shots.
Great post! I'm a volunteer at West Wycombe House so it's always good to hear about people enjoying their visit there.
ReplyDeleteYou may be interested to learn that the statue of the horseman that you see as Paloma's car drives to the house is made of fibreglass! It was a prop that came from Pinewood Studios, which Sir Francis Dashwood (the 11th Baronet, and father of the House's current resident, Sir Edward) acquired in exchange for a crate of good champagne.
The House was also used as a set for Madonna's film "WE" and you can see some great interior shots on the Vanity Fair site here: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2011/09/we-cast-slideshow-201109#slide=1
And weddings are often held there, here's some photos of a recent one, again with one or two nice interior shots.