#ThursdayDoors: a little Dickens

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Cat as Charles Dickens
by Teagan via Night Cafe
Hello, all.  As we approach the end of the week, here’s a song that is just, well… bizarre.  Although it goes with the rest of the post.  I was going to make a “Whatnot Wednesday” of it, but the hump-day got away from me.  Daphne is showing her displeasure that she and Velma didn’t get their Whatnot post by relentlessly trying to bite me while I type this.  Yes, she is a little Dickens… Please forgive any typos.  I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

(Video below is “Horrible Histories, the Charles Diekens Song)

Thursday Doors

A very little key will open a very heavy door.  So said Charles Dickens. Last week I did a post about secret doors.  At the time I didn’t know that Charles Dickens was enamored of them.  He had a secret room built with a door disguised as a bookcase — complete with fake books for which he made titles, in his home in Tavistock Square, where he lived from 1851 to 1860. Moreover, he liked it so much that he did the same for his study at Gad’s Hill, the Kent country house that was his home for the last 10 years of his life. 

Charles Dickens' Birthplace Museum - Wikipedia

Above is the author’s birthplace museum in Landport, Portsmouth, England. File:Charles Dickens Kitchen - Joy of Museums.jpg Yes, that was Charles Dickens’ kitchen (above).  Although Wikipedia didn’t say to which of his homes it belongs.
Charles Dickens Museum
Charles Dickens Museum, Camden (London), Wikipedia
The Charles Dickens Museum above is an author’s house museum at 48 Doughty Street in King’s Cross, in the London Borough of Camden. It occupies a typical Georgian terraced house which was Charles Dickens’s home from 25 March 1837 (a year after his marriage) to December 1839. (Wikipedia) File:Dickens House Broadstairs Kent England.jpg The Dickens House (above) on Victoria Parade, Broadstairs in Kent, England is said to be the inspiration for that of Betsey Trotwood in his book David Copperfield. File:East Face of Dickens' Chalet, Rochester (03).jpg When you’re Charles Dickens the heck with a writing room, you get an entire chalet for the purpose.  The 160-year-old wooden building off Rochester High Street was given to Dickens by the French actor Charles Fechter, arriving in 94 pieces on Christmas Eve 1864.  The second story balcony wraps around one side to a staircase leading to the ground. Category:Dickens' Chalet, Rochester - Wikimedia Commons

All of the photographs in this post are from either Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons.

A 94 piece chalet… I wonder if it came with instructions…  Although, that doesn’t seem like very many pieces for an entire building.  I’ve had to put together furniture that had more than 94 pieces.  Thanks for opening this door.  Friendly comments are welcome. SPECIAL NOTE: I’m sorry if WordPress has made it difficult for you to comment. I’m also having that problem at many blogs. Hopefully you can open this post in the Reader screen and comment there. That’s what I’ve been doing — when it will actually let me open the Reader.

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I must include the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

Real Steampunkery Tech: True Contraptions of the Steam and Diesel Eras

Revised cover "Real Steampunkery Tech: True Contraptions of the Steam and Victorian Eras

Universal Purchase Links E-book:  relinks.me/B0DHC6JFVT Paperback:  relinks.me/B0DHD9BSJB

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Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. It’s hosted by Dan Antion.  Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).

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Copyright © 2025 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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70 thoughts on “#ThursdayDoors: a little Dickens”

  4. He had some very fine homes, didn’t he? And doors to go with. I didn’t know about the secret doors. I quite fancy one myself. Thanks for all the information and your lead character is really beautiful xx

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  11. I really enjoyed this post, Teagan. You opened a rabbit hole that invited me to find out whether Victoria Society liked mysteries and secret doors.

    It seems that Victorian society did have a notable fascination with mysteries, secret doors, and hidden passages, reflecting their complex social dynamics and cultural interests. I wonder if Victorian society’s emphasis on propriety prompted them see secret spaces as symbols for danger and allure. I think that we are very much like them! We love adventures and escapism, especially into books. So thank you for all the wonderful books you have written. I know that I can always count on an adventure when I open one of your books.

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    1. Haha. I hope you enjoyed your trip down that rabbit hole, Rebecca. Similar to their interest in the language of flowers and the language of fans? Maybe so. Some of it may have been born of oppression (&/or memories of it not long before). Think of “priest holes” or even the secret places involved in the Underground Railroad in the USA — if not quite a secret room, it was symbolically. Or maybe they simply liked the romance of the idea.

      Thank you about my books. I blush. ^^’ Big hugs.

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  12. Daphne looks like she’s serious about getting her message across. That’s an interesting thing about Dickens liking secret rooms. This post was very informative. I’ve read lots of his work, but I don’t know much about the man.

    I think you could break down a pretty nice chalet into 94 pieces, but that balcony and the trim looks pretty complicated. I love the pictures. I hope you have you have a nice weekend.

    I’m trying this comment, but don’t blame me if it gets duplicated.

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    1. Hi, Dan. I thought you might appreciate that detailed trim. I’m amazed that it has held up for so many years, especially with all the “holes” from those intricate designs. Researching this post showed me how little I know about Dickens. I’m sure there’s much more to know.

      No duplicate comment. 😀 Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.

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  13. This is a terrific post, Teagan, doors or not. I love the history on Dickens.

    A lego house, eh!

    So, when I get to a blog, I check to see if the “Subscribe” is in the bottom right, and/or if it is green. If you follow the blog, and it is not there AND green, refresh once or twice. It should appear and/or turn green.

    When it’s there and green you can comment without issue.

    If you comment, but can’t see you comment, it just may be in that person’s Spam!

    HUGS!

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    1. Hi, Jan. I’d love to see inside any of the houses. That kitchen photo was the only interior I found. I’d love to see a depiction of the streets outside (from the era). I get the feeling that the modern day view does not do the places justice. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.

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    1. Hi, Liz. Robbie says the Horrible Histories was a series of books. Somehow that made the video make more sense — at least its existence. Anyhow, I didn’t know if it was “just me” thinking it was weird. Opinion seems to be split. LOL. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.

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    1. He certainly seemed to have loved his, Denise — to go to all that custom made expense in more than one house. He even had a book binder make fake books made for the cases, with Dickens making up dozens of titles for them. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.

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  24. Thanks for this tour of Dickens’s houses. And that chalet! I laughed when you mentioned assembling furniture with more than 94 pieces. I wonder if the folks at Ikea have considered selling writer’s chalets? Or maybe a writer’s shed is more realistic 🙃

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      1. Off topic – I just started reading “Magonia”. In it they mention ships in the sky and the ‘Irish Annuals’, I couldn’t help but immediately get an image of the Delta Pearl in my mind. Did you ever read up on those items?

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  26. I tried to leave a comment but no luck. I’m trying again. Great post! Love the writing chalet! I hope I had one for myself.

    Take care, enjoy the rest of the week, and I hope the Scoobies forgive you for missing yesterday’s post. Big hugs!

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    1. Hi, Mandy. I wish I had found a photo of one of his hidden rooms, or even the fake bookcases. He made up dozens of fun titles for the fake books and had a book binder make them. I suppose those books were just shells — and that real ones would have been too heavy. I’m speculating — I didn’t find that kind of detailed information. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.

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