0:00:04 > 0:00:06You're your own Pope.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10It has an aura of mystery.
0:00:11 > 0:00:19In the 1930s, the world fell in love with Hollywood's boldly Hispanic take on Art Deco.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Glamorous, exotic, high tech and not afraid to show off.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30I'm going to get a taste of the Hollywood Art Deco lifestyle in none other than...Devon.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Oh, yes, very nice.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47CLUNKING NOISE
0:00:47 > 0:00:48Ooh!
0:00:49 > 0:00:50I'm slowly picking my way down
0:00:50 > 0:00:55a very, very narrow road in Devon, with terrible speed bumps
0:00:55 > 0:00:59so I'm not going to be racing down there, looking for a house.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01And we're passing lots of houses...
0:01:03 > 0:01:07..which are all very beautiful, but not really the thing we're after.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Trying to find a small piece of Hollywood
0:01:11 > 0:01:14transplanted to a Devon riverside,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16but we may not make it.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17CLUNKING NOISE
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Oh, I did that one better.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25There's like all these secret places.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Lots of woods. Lots of boats.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Lovely blue water.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Very lush, indeed.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Oh, my... Hold on. I've got to go in reverse.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Maybe just...
0:01:41 > 0:01:46That's it - Casa Del Rio.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50I was told this was an Hispanic Hollywood-style mansion.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53And you know, I didn't really believe it,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56but when you see it, it is. It's everything it says it is.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Ha! Including an impossibly steep drive.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06That really is a very, very American house.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08I think I've got the wrong car.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10I need something posher.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14I've got to have a look round.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25It's very Spanish. Well, very Hollywood Spanish...
0:02:27 > 0:02:29..but it's in Devon.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32This big veranda here.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36And these sort of Romeo, Romeo balconies.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40It's a real fantasy dream home.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48And this great thing, this is really one of the big Spanish things
0:02:48 > 0:02:51which is having a patio with these shallow stairs coming down.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Your, kind of, courtyard
0:02:54 > 0:02:56with these lovely flowers.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59And all this cream reflecting the light.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03And tiled roofs.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07It's a sort of Hollywood Cordoban imagery.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11There should be women out on these balconies, really, welcoming me.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15But, eh. Haven't got the budget.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Oh, marble. Fantastic.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31It's always nice to be welcomed into a house by a film star -
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Mary Pickford. Oh!
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Douglas Fairbanks.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Within seconds, I'm in a place
0:03:41 > 0:03:44that clearly used Art Deco to say, Hollywood.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49It's a fantastic stairwell.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52And it's got this very interesting feature, here.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Which is a sort of iron grill over an open window.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01And the idea of this style, when it was done in Hollywood,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04was that somehow this was a castle that had become a palace.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09And so the remains of the entrance to the dungeon lies in the turret.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12And then, of course, you have this fantastic
0:04:12 > 0:04:16black and white staircase and going up it, it's nothing.
0:04:16 > 0:04:24But the thing about this is you can make a fantastic entrance.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26I mean, not a bloke, obviously.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30But if you swan down here,
0:04:30 > 0:04:35you're the king or queen of this castle and people...
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Well, you got framed by this really very deco black and white floor,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43the black and white stairs, you'd be wearing black and white,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46you'd be like a little Fred Astaire traipsing down the stairs.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48It's fantastic.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52And equally, there's this lovely balcony again up here
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and the other thing you've got is this great feature here, balcony.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01You're your own Pope.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07And the thing about this staircase - it's the centre of the house.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Anyone coming up or down has to go through it.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15And the whole thing is geared to be looked up at.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18You've got all this strapwork on the ceiling.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Someone's thrown a card up there, that must have been a shot.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23And then down, you've got this wonderful pattern.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26The whole thing, the whole drama of being in this house
0:05:26 > 0:05:28is animating the people in it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Every room has a purpose to make you look good.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34In theory.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47I'm staying for a night.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49The owner, Andrew Pearson, is there to welcome me.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50- Hello.- Hello, there.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54He's dedicated to preserving the mansion sense of deco drama.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57So this was the entrance to the house, here.
0:05:57 > 0:05:58Here? This side?
0:05:58 > 0:06:02- This was the front door.- So how did you get into the property?
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Carriages and the early cars arrived at the bottom there by the river.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And their carriages, or cars early on, would park there.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12And they walked with their robes for dinner,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15along the rose garden, up through the steps, through the rosary,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18onto this terrace and through to the house.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20So that makes sense of this huge facade, here.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Because the real presence of the house would be announced from below
0:06:25 > 0:06:27and you come up to this turret.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And the main dining room was through there.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And then there was two sitting rooms
0:06:33 > 0:06:37which could be used for a concert or other entertainment.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And then you would move into the house.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42So people came in off the terrace,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46having had a rest from the climb from the road and the river and then took
0:06:46 > 0:06:51a view of this marble staircase and the black and white flooring.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- Yeah, this is fantastic, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55This is all the original marble
0:06:55 > 0:06:57and the extensions on the ground floor
0:06:57 > 0:07:01have all copied this Italian marble.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Casa Del Rio was built in 1935 by Walter Price,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13a baker who sold bread throughout the West Country.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Clearly, he was an entrepreneur
0:07:16 > 0:07:19cos he'd gone to the States to research the bread industry
0:07:19 > 0:07:21and discovered, for himself anyway,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24the value of potentially introducing sliced bread here.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28- So he introduced sliced bread to Britain?- That's what the story goes.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And he was the best thing since sliced bread.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I think history may decide otherwise on that
0:07:33 > 0:07:36because the records around him are somewhat scant,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40but what he did do was to meet with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford
0:07:40 > 0:07:44as part of his review of the Californian bread industry.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48And it was really that, that he fell in love with the style,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50the Spanish style of house, cos theirs was one of
0:07:50 > 0:07:54the first Beverley Hills' houses on this sort of location.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57They had chosen an area at the top of the end of a long drive
0:07:57 > 0:08:01and built that house, Pickfair, in 1919.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04But what I think is really amazing is that he went to America
0:08:04 > 0:08:07and apart from bringing back sliced bread,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10he also decided to build a Spanish house in Devon.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13There are no Spanish houses around here or anything like it.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16And I mean, if he'd been a normal English entrepreneur,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18he might have built an Arts and Crafts house
0:08:18 > 0:08:21or something like that. But no, a Hollywood house.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25It was the style of the house and undoubtedly some of the people he met
0:08:25 > 0:08:28at the dinner parties and their sort of friends,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31he obviously had a very social time with Mary Pickford.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Mary Pickford and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, were the most
0:08:37 > 0:08:39famous Hollywood couple of the time.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45And they built Pickfair, a fancy Hollywood home which
0:08:45 > 0:08:49inspired Walter Price to build his Hispanic take on it.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55He took the concept of a Spanish house, set on a hillside,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59and scoured the Devon river valleys for a site
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and he found this site just a mile and a half down from
0:09:02 > 0:09:05the Yealm Hotel which was the only property there then.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09And he wanted 17, 20 acres on the side of the Yealm,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12facing south west, in a secluded valley,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17where he could have a backdrop of a very secluded walled garden.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Well, he certainly picked a fantastic site.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Casa Del Rio is Hollywood upstairs...
0:09:26 > 0:09:28..and Hollywood downstairs.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32So, this is the cinema.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34It's wonderful.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37That's absolutely marvellous.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39And this is created on the principle
0:09:39 > 0:09:45that Pickfair was actually a place of real activity and escape.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49And what they did there was, over a number of years,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53had not only riding and swimming and tennis and golf,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57but they then put in a bar and, if they could have had, a cinema.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01What we've done is to recreate what we think Mary would have done,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03but she didn't like looking at her old films.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07So really, you're developing the theme of the house,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10the desire of the house, to be a Hollywood house.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12- So are these cinema seats?- No.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15These come from an old building in Wales
0:10:15 > 0:10:19and they were found by my team when we were creating this games area
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and there were some 300 of them and we've picked the best 30.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24You know what this really needs?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27A cocktail and a Fred Astaire film.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31But that wouldn't be a rerun of Pickfair cos Douglas Fairbanks was a
0:10:31 > 0:10:36teetotaller and the guests for dinner at Pickfair were not served wine.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38But her last present to him,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41the Christmas before they separated, was actually
0:10:41 > 0:10:45a Texan bar put into the basement cos it was she who liked to drink.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- It was a present for her, really.- Exactly.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58For Walter Price, the house was a monument to his success.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03From the veranda, I notice a lost part of his tribute to Hollywood.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Course the elephant in the room, in this garden,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08is that this lawn shouldn't be here at all.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Really, there's a swimming pool here.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15So he'd be stood up there watching lovely people swim up and down.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20And actually, when you're down here you can see, just here,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22the edge of the pool.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26The ground sinks down a bit and it's a bit bleached out.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30But it must have been great cos as a lawn, it means nothing.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35But as a great patch of blue, surrounded by this lovely garden,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37it says glamour.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Now for something Art Deco exotic.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47It's cocktail hour.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The great thing about doing a programme about Art Deco
0:11:50 > 0:11:53is an excuse to make a cocktail.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57And there's a lovely book here, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01right in the period. Lovely orange and black details,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03very, very Art Deco colours.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05And it's written in a kind of jolly style.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07And it's got lovely illustrations.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10And it's got hundreds and hundreds of cocktails in here.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14This was written against the background in America of prohibition
0:12:14 > 0:12:16though this was published in England.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19And cocktails as far as I can tell,
0:12:19 > 0:12:24in the main, are to disguise bad booze.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29I'm going to make a Whizz Bang which is slightly scarily -
0:12:29 > 0:12:33absinthe, grenadine, orange bitters, vermouth and whisky.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36"Shake well and strain into a glass." So...
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Take the lid off.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41First ingredient, always seems to be...
0:12:41 > 0:12:43a good amount of ice.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I wonder what the... Absinthe, absinthe, absinthe...
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Well, I have no idea what a dash is so we'll have to improvise the dash.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Looks like paraffin.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Next one...grenadine.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Orange bitters.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06It looks very dangerous.
0:13:06 > 0:13:12French vermouth. That's a third, whatever a third is.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Now comes the hardest judge of all, two thirds whisky.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I like whisky.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Lightning flashes between your wrists as you shake the cocktail.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26Yes.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Very pink.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38I think you're supposed to do it until you can't feel your hands.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Now, let's give that a go. The other thing I know about cocktails
0:13:47 > 0:13:51is you're not supposed to sip them, you're supposed to drink them.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Oh, it doesn't look good.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Right. Think it's glasses off for this.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Mmm, cheers.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Oh, yes. Very nice.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Can't taste a thing.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Oh. I'll have another.
0:14:12 > 0:14:13That's like paint.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Time for the final treat of the day.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28The thing about these Hollywood films
0:14:28 > 0:14:32is they gave everyone in the world access to the same popular culture
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and nothing spread Art Deco culture more than Hollywood.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38It may have begun in France,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43with the rich and with luxury, but by the mid-'30s, it was American.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47It represented a life that most people in Europe just couldn't imagine.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51They'd had peace, they'd had plenty and even in the Depression,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53they had glamour.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And films like this offered you a view into another world
0:14:56 > 0:14:58which you could only dream about living in.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01# The Atlantic but the Atlantic isn't romantic
0:15:01 > 0:15:04# And the Pacific isn't what it's cracked up to be... #
0:15:04 > 0:15:08And the thing about Fred is he's a polished, shiny gent
0:15:08 > 0:15:11and you're just waiting for Ginger Rogers
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and lots of nightclubs and lots of cocktails and lots of shininess.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18And that's really what you're here to see.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24And the thing is anywhere, even here in the heart of Devon,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26a film was never more than a bus ride away
0:15:26 > 0:15:29so everyone could see them.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It was really the first global popular culture
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and Art Deco was the background.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37# But we never see the admiral... #
0:15:37 > 0:15:41And actually, sitting in this nice private cinema,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45guzzling cocktails and watching Fred Astaire. Well,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48it's a lovely way to end the day.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49# And what did we see?
0:15:49 > 0:15:51# We saw the sea. #
0:16:18 > 0:16:20In the '30s, they discovered sunglasses
0:16:20 > 0:16:23which is just as well cos those cocktails are shocking.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Everything's a little bright,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28so I just need everything toning down a bit.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32And these rooms are lovely cos you can see everything.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Every room has a view and every room has a view of the estate.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37And this is the best view.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41And the rooms are also great because they have washing facilities.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45So you need never come out until you're fit to see the world.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The bathrooms are fantastic.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55This one's a bit pink, but the best bathroom's down here.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03This corridor's lovely.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The arches of the doors are matched by the arches through the corridor.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11And just these little arches transform what is really just
0:17:11 > 0:17:15an access corridor into a little bit of Spanishness.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17And the plastered ceiling, as well.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20So, these details really make the place.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But look at this. This is fantastic.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30This is a proper '30s bathroom.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40And if you're tall, the best bit, the absolute best bit...
0:17:44 > 0:17:45Look at that.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Anyone... You'd have to be a giant not to fit in this bath.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I imagine if you're short, it's a bit of a problem.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56It's great.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58But more importantly, the black bath,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01it's important that it's fashionable.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03The taps are all moulded.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07These octagonal forms, these are really, really deco.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13The bright chrome instead of soft nickel is an important finish.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17And the contrast with the green. So you've got black, gold, green.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20The green becomes deeper as you reach the floor.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22And the round sink.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Everything plays together.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26And then over here, you've got this lovely,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30lovely sort of shelf and a mirror.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35And if I used hairdryers, I'd use this hairdryer.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40So really, you could come out of your room and just,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43as I should really, prepare yourself for the world.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Time for a spot of breakfast.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Going to demonstrate a toaster now.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11This is a modern loaf and of course, it doesn't fit the toaster.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13So I'll have to adjust the bread to fit.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Let's try again. Oh, yes.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28The great thing about this toaster is it's a self-turning toaster.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36In about an hour and a half, that should be nicely done.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38The thing about the '30s is
0:19:38 > 0:19:42you had a kind of birth of modern food convenience.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45You can cobble something together fast.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50And, I don't know, it's kind of urban food.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52People have forgotten that, but if you live in a city,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56you need packets of butter. And the toaster...
0:19:58 > 0:20:00..it works.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And sauces, these proprietary sauces, they began to be advertised
0:20:04 > 0:20:10with winning by-lines. They became more than the sauce in the bottle.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13They became a product that everyone wanted to have.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14How is a bottle modern?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Well, you give it an Art Deco shape.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21This lovely octagonal shape, kind of communicates todayness about sauce.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Are we there?
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Yeah, we are. Great.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29And that's the thing about Art Deco.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It is not so much a coherent design aesthetic,
0:20:33 > 0:20:39it's a mood, but it's a mood that people who marketed stuff
0:20:39 > 0:20:43were only happy to apply to every product under the sun.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Do I want that much sauce?
0:20:45 > 0:20:46The answer is yes.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Let's hope it doesn't spill.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Oh, yeah. That is great.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09Electric power changed the lives of the middle classes in the 1930s.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15Ian Peterson, curator of the Museum of Electricity and a collector of devices.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21Hi, Ian. I'm glad you could come cos this is an early electric house,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23but I don't know anything about supply in the '30s.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- Was it easy to get?- Well, in the 19...late '30s,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31there'd been this massive expansion in the grid.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Most new buildings were sold to the middle classes
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and they wanted everything to be very new.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39They were exposed to American influences through film.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Particularly in a house like this.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43And they wanted to have the latest
0:21:43 > 0:21:47pieces of equipment in gadgetry, just like we are now.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Look at this. This is fantastic.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Yeah. That's a 1935 Belling.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Like all manufacturers, they were very of the period.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01They seemed to be influenced by the streamline shapes.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04They're like go faster stripes, aren't they?
0:22:04 > 0:22:08- Yeah.- I was looking down here and you've got this kind of wheel with
0:22:08 > 0:22:13speed coming off it and with the orange of the elements together,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16the orange and green would be very, very jazzy.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Yeah, and it's a contrast to the browns of the Bakelites,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22of the majority of the Bakelite of the period,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24so we've got this lovely green pottery,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26to give you a different flavour, if you like.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- Bakelite. I have got a radio. Come with me.- Right.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37What do you know about this radio?
0:22:37 > 0:22:39It's an Ecko.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42It's 1935.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Beautiful Bakelite casing.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Bakelite was pioneered by the Germans,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52but Ecko built a massive factory producing Bakelite radios.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54For the period, they were state of the art.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58They were wonderful pieces of kit.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00It's humming.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I think there's a crackle. I'll go round the back here
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and see if we can get it to pick something up.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12FRENCH RADIO CRACKLES
0:23:17 > 0:23:19It's the French.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21It's really clear.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30This is an American toaster.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Mid-'30s.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34You put a slice of toast in each one.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36This is obviously for a family of four.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41- So this is American, not English.- American.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Yeah. They seem to... They seem to be a bit further ahead than us
0:23:46 > 0:23:49on the design of a lot of these appliances.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51See. you put the bread in, you do one side
0:23:51 > 0:23:54and when you're ready to do the other side, you just do that.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Four slices in one go.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00And then when it's ready, you go to your mid-position.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- Four people can take a slice out.- Bingo.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07So, what is this?
0:24:07 > 0:24:11This is a rather lovely electric kettle.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15It's American. And I just like the way that
0:24:15 > 0:24:18they've even managed to get all this lovely Art Deco feel
0:24:18 > 0:24:21to something which is basically a piece of household equipment
0:24:21 > 0:24:25that you use every morning to, I suppose in America,
0:24:25 > 0:24:26to make your coffee.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29And I think the thing that I like about it is the colour of it.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32It's bright and it's not like a utility.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34- You'd be proud to have that on your table.- Oh, yeah.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38So the last thing I want to ask you about is this thing over here,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40a German hairdryer,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I didn't even know they had hairdryers in the 1930s.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46This is quite a nice one cos this one's a German hairdryer,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48beautiful chrome body, Bakelite handle.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54But of course, all this demand for stuff, it ended with the war.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59So in a brief phase, from sort of mid-'20s to 1939, you get this
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- blossoming of all these new products for us.- And new design.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- And it all just comes to a halt.- Yeah.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07So they were just getting used to this new wonderful life
0:25:07 > 0:25:10- and then it's all over. - Yeah.- That's a shame.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12It is, isn't it?
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Staying at Casa Del Rio leaves me
0:25:21 > 0:25:25unexpectedly seduced by this Hollywood Hispanic folly.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Bright, loud, showy and even a bit silly,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32it's very Hollywood and undeniably deco.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38As my stay in Casa Del Rio comes to an end,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42I decide to get a final view of this marvellous building.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Down to the bottom of the garden, to see it from the river.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51It's just like wearing a cardigan or something. OK?
0:25:58 > 0:25:59Oh, yeah. Lovely.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06So, Phil, if you could take us
0:26:06 > 0:26:09downriver a bit so I get a good view of the house
0:26:09 > 0:26:13because I think it's the only place we're going to see the whole thing.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24From the water, you can see the house is built
0:26:24 > 0:26:27on a little promontary in the river.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30And that the house itself,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32the verandas are angled like that
0:26:32 > 0:26:36to look out over particular views.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40And although there's been all this building since, from the house,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44you can't really see any of that. But the actual house itself,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47stands high above everything around it
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and it's obviously just much, much bigger.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52And all these little bungalows,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54they're lovely,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56but you know that's a mansion.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06And as you come round, you get glimpses of bits of the house.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08And I thought you'd see the whole thing,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10but you don't, it's really private.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14From anywhere on the river you can't see very much at all.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Looking back, you never get more
0:27:18 > 0:27:21than a glimpse of a rather lovely window.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24These gorgeous coral shutters.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27And of all the houses in the village, the biggest one
0:27:27 > 0:27:30has completely disappeared behind the screen of trees.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35But where we are now, the whole house is slowly becoming obscured.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37So nobody's going to look at you.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I think you've got about three goes
0:27:40 > 0:27:43at waving at the butler to get the drinks ready.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48The one thing you can see from here is this huge roofline
0:27:48 > 0:27:50which does suggest a really big house.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Now we get this fantastic view of the stair turret
0:27:53 > 0:27:55and it's straight out of Hollywood.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58And it's just so high compared to everything around it.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01And also, just not of Devon.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05You know, it's like plonked here, like some spaceship...
0:28:05 > 0:28:06Stucco spaceship.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Well, it's just disappearing behind the trees now.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13And you never really get more than a glimpse.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16And it's a discreet place, you know.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18You could be a secret man in there.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19And I think people were.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Nobody knows much about it.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24And it makes you speculate.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26You wonder what's going on there?
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It has an aura of mystery.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:53 > 0:28:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk