The main stair faces you when entering from the vestibule. The stair has a 180 degree turn about half-way up. There is a very large vertical window to the rear of the house. Through the door at the back of the hall there is a small back hall with a low ceiling which dog-legs into the kitchen beneath the stair. The first 5 pictures are from when, or just after, we had moved in. The later ones are after the hall was decorated (between 2006 and 2008). Yes, I really did take 2 years to decorate one room - but everything was stripped back, restored, repaired and traditional finishes - graining, marbling, anaglypta, lincrusta, waxing & polishing were applied. It is period, not contemporary, so I never need to decorate this room again ever - maybe just the odd touch up!

The is the view from the half landing looking down the stairs in 2000. The ornate plaster arch is quite attractive. The same cannot be said of the wall paper or carpet. I will comment on the lampshade next.	All that can be said here is that about 100 years separate the ceiling rose and the lampshade. How tastes have changed and we have had more comment about the lampshade than about the beautiful rose.	This is the door into the back hall where you have to dog-leg under the stair to reach the kitchen.	Another view down the stairs. This time the wallpaper has been given a quick lick of magnolia emulsion and the carpet has been lifted to reveal a linoleum floor in a parquet design with a border. Unfortunately the linoleum is brittle and incomplete in places so it cannot be saved.
This was taken after a new wooden floor was fitted. The etched glass in the center of the ruby and yellow stained glass on the door has also been replaced to be close to the original.	This is detail of the stained and etched glass in of the inner vestibule door. We had new toughened Pilkington etched glass fitted since the main glass panel had been replaced by patterned glass. The design of the new etched glass was chosen to be close to the original glass which can be found in the upper stair window.	The mahogany wood gaining was the biggest job (for more on the graining follow this link). Traditional anaglypta is used under the dado and has been painted and then glazed.	I collected a good number of Edwardian and Victorian pictures related to the house, local area and old family pictures. Old or traditional frames were used to create a cluster on the wall with all of the four sides carefully aligned.
The plasterwork on the centre piece and cornices were restored (see link). A lincrusta frieze was also added above the picture rail. The frieze of a Georgian Adam style but this was a traditional design in Victorian times and seems appropriate since Adam was born here in Kirkcaldy.	This view is looking down the stairs. The Edwardian mahogany hallstand was a real find on ebay. The bakelite phone that sits on it is connected and fully working.	A bit of research revealled that it was traditional to have a faux stone finish applied to the stair and less common to have it grained. Underneath the old graining the paint was off-white, probably not marbled but definitely light coloured. The stair was stripped to the wood and was marbled. The stair runner was fixed in the traditional way after we eventually found a fitter capable of the job. These stair rods are solid and not just for show.	This is a restored German made walnut Vienna wall clock from around 1900. I love the fact that it is still ticking and chiming beautifully after more than 100 years. It keeps excellent time and with minor TLC will be ticking away for the next 100 years. They don't engineer products to last like this anymore!
This is the door to back hall. The scale and quality of the fittings suddenly changes beyond this door. The ceilings in the back hall, kitchen and utility are lower, the doors are a more basic design and the facings are much lighter. This is the dividing door between the servants work areas and the public rooms.	Here is a little detail of the bottom of the stair showing the marbling. The fireplace in the dining room was the practice piece for the marbling. Although it surpised me, the faux marble stair has genuinely fooled several people which makes me feel good about my new found old skill.