Here are some photos from my collection showing the interior of Efford House where they filmed the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility. As you can see I am no photographer! I can never get photos to look like the images I see - well, I wanted to keep a record and I thought you might be interested to see comparisons with shots from the film. The first shows the view through the doorway looking over the estuary - and here we have gorgeous Greg Wise carrying the equally lovely Kate Winslet up the path.
Here's the text from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.
Elinor and her mother rose up in amazement at their entrance, and while the eyes of both were fixed on him with an evident wonder and a secret admiration which equally sprung from his appearance, he apologized for his intrusion by relating its cause, in a manner so frank and so graceful, that his person, which was uncommonly handsome, received additional charms from his voice and expression. Had he been even old, ugly, and vulgar, the gratitude and kindness of Mrs. Dashwood would have been secured by any act of attention to her child; but the influence of youth, beauty, and elegance, gave an interest to the action which came home to her feelings.
She thanked him again and again; and with a sweetness of address which always attended her, invited him to be seated. But this he declined, as he was dirty and wet. Mrs. Dashwood then begged to know to whom she was obliged. His name, he replied, was Willoughby, and his present home was at Allenham, from whence he hoped she would allow him the honour of calling to-morrow to inquire after Miss Dashwood. The honour was readily granted, and he then departed, to make himself still more interesting, in the midst of an heavy rain.
His manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the theme of general admiration, and the laugh which his gallantry raised against Marianne received particular spirit from his exterior attractions. Marianne herself had seen less of his person than the rest, for the confusion which crimsoned over her face, on his lifting her up, had robbed her of the power of regarding him after their entering the house. But she had seen enough of him to join in all the admiration of the others, and with an energy which always adorned her praise. His person and air were equal to what her fancy had ever drawn for the hero of a favourite story; and in his carrying her into the house with so little previous formality, there was a rapidity of thought which particularly recommended the action to her. Every circumstance belonging to him was interesting. His name was good, his residence was in their favourite village, and she soon found out that of all manly dresses a shooting-jacket was the most becoming. Her imagination was busy, her reflections were pleasant, and the pain of a sprained ankle was disregarded.
The next two pictures show the same view - Efford House 2007 and Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Emilie Francois in a very elegant scene in 1995. I love the expressions on the faces of all three Dashwood sisters - each one bowled over by 'his manly beauty and more than common gracefulness' methinks!
Finally, the last two phots are not quite of the same view but show glimpses of the hallway and into the Dashwood's dining parlour. Mr Willoughby is calling on Marianne to enquire after her health. I thought it was very clever how in Emma Thompson's screenplay Willoughby presents Marianne with a bunch of wild flowers and contrasts this with Colonel Brandon's bouquet grown in a hothouse or greenhouse. Marianne is a romantic who delights in nature, so Willoughby's offering of wild flowers from the hedgerows would seem to her to be the superior gift.From Sense and Sensibility
Marianne's preserver, as Margaret, with more elegance than precision, stiled Willoughby, called at the cottage early the next morning to make his personal inquiries. He was received by Mrs. Dashwood with more than politeness -- with a kindness which Sir John's account of him and her own gratitude prompted; and everything that passed during the visit, tended to assure him of the sense, elegance, mutual affection, and domestic comfort of the family to whom accident had now introduced him. Of their personal charms he had not required a second interview to be convinced.
Don't you think it the most romantic story that Greg Wise and Emma Thompson met on set during the filming and fell in love? They are married now with a daughter and also have a son who they adopted.