Editing Eltham Palace (section)

===1930–present===
In 1933, [[Stephen Courtauld]] and his wife [[Virginia Courtauld|Virginia "Ginie" Courtauld]] (née Peirano) acquired a 99-year lease on the palace site and commissioned [[Seely & Paget]] to restore the hall and create a modern home attached to it. Seely and Paget added a minstrel's gallery and a timber screen to the hall, while creating a design for the main house inspired by [[Christopher Wren]]'s work at [[Hampton Court Palace]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name='seelypaget'>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history/seely-and-paget-at-eltham-palace/|work=English Heritage|title=The Partners: Seely and Paget|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref>

The home was decorated internally in the [[Art Deco]] style. The entrance hall was created by [[Scandinavian design|Swedish designer]] [[Rolf Engströmer]]; light floods in from a glazed dome, highlighting blackbean veneer and figurative marquetry.<ref name="palace">{{cite web|title=Eltham Palace |url=http://www.propascene.com/exhibithighlight/elthampalace.htm |publisher=prop a scene |year=2000 |access-date=3 January 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302092733/http://www.propascene.com/exhibithighlight/elthampalace.htm |archive-date=2 March 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref> Other rooms in the house, including the dining room, drawing room and Virginia Courtauld's circular bedroom and adjoining bathroom, were the work of the Italian designer [[Piero Malacrida de Saint-August]], while Seely and Paget designed many of the bedrooms.<ref name='seelypaget' /> Keen gardeners, the Courtaulds also substantially modified and improved the grounds and gardens.<ref name=EngHer/>

<Gallery mode=packed heights=120px>
Eltham Palace - interior, composite view of entrance hall.jpg|The Art Deco entrance hall
Eltham Palace - interior, view of Virginia Courtauld’s bedroom.jpg|Virginia Courtauld's bedroom
Eltham Palace - interior, view of library.jpg|The library
Eltham Palace - interior, view of dining room.jpg|The dining room
Eltham Palace - interior, view of drawing room.jpg|The drawing room
</Gallery>

Stephen was a younger brother of [[Samuel Courtauld (art collector)|Samuel Courtauld]], an industrialist, art collector and founder of the [[Courtauld Institute of Art]].  His study in the new house features a statuette version of ''The Sentry'', copied from a [[Watts Warehouse#War memorial|Manchester war memorial]], by [[Charles Sargeant Jagger]], who was - like Stephen - a member of the [[Artists' Rifles]] during the First World War.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-sentry-etham-palace-charles-sargeant-jagger/bgFswHovVBJ87Q?hl=en|title=The Sentry, Eltham Palace|publisher=Arts and Culture|access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref>

The Courtaulds' pet [[lemur]], [[Mah-Jongg (lemur)|Mah-Jongg]], had a special room on the upper floor of the house which had a hatch to the downstairs flower room; he had the run of the house. The Courtaulds remained at Eltham until 1944. During the earlier part of the war, Stephen Courtauld was a member of the local [[Civil Defence Service]]. In September 1940 he was on duty on the Great Hall roof as a fire watcher when it was badly damaged by [[The Blitz|German incendiary bombs]]. In 1944, the Courtauld family moved to Scotland then to [[Southern Rhodesia]] (now Zimbabwe), giving the palace to the [[Royal Army Educational Corps]] in March 1945; the corps then moved all its administration to Eltham Palace in 1948.<ref name=eh>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/eltham-palace-and-gardens/history/the-army-at-eltham/|title=The Army at Eltham|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref> Following the formation of the Educational and Training Services Branch of the new [[Adjutant General's Corps]], staff moved to [[Worthy Down Camp]] in [[Hampshire]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhqagc.com/membership.html|title=Regimental Association Subscriptions|access-date=18 May 2014}}</ref>

In 1995, [[English Heritage]] assumed management of the palace, and in 1999, completed major repairs and restorations of the interiors and gardens.<ref name=EngHer>{{cite web|title=The History of Eltham Palace and Gardens|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/eltham-palace-and-gardens/history/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302020755/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/eltham-palace-and-gardens/history/|archive-date=2 March 2012|url-status=dead|publisher=English Heritage}}</ref>

<Gallery mode=packed heights=120px>
File:Eltham Palace moat.jpg|Moat
File:Eltham Palace garden.jpg|Garden
File:South Bridge Eltham Palace 01.JPG|South Bridge
</Gallery>
{{wide image|Eltham Palace.jpg|700px|The north side of the palace}}