It takes passion and hard work to maintain Severs' vision. The house closed in early 2021 while a small army of craftsmen and women worked to renew the treasure chest of objects inside for a grand reopening that summer.

Among them was fabric specialist Johanna Garrad. She was in charge of cleaning and dressing fabrics, the drapery, curtains, beds and pieces of costume.

“Many drapes had fallen down and it was often a puzzle to rehang something that had once been hung up in a haphazard fashion yet to magnificent effect,” she told the BBC. “I was fascinated by the degree to which the house is not a museum collection but a theater set, and we needed to be aware of that theatricality when we put things back.”

Inside a secret home frozen in time