Manderley
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KiaraT111 03:27, 17 November 2006 (UTC)Manderley is the house that plays a central part in Daphne du Maurier's novel, Rebecca. No location is specified for the house, but it is assumed to be in Cornwall, where du Maurier herself lived. The original "Manderley" is a large house, the property of millionaire Max de Winter. It has numerous domestic staff, and is open to the public on certain days. For the novel's heroine, the mistress of Manderley, however, there is an atmosphere of doom about it, because of the death of Max's first wife, and it is hinted that she haunts the house. The novel begins with the famous sentence,
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and a chain upon the gate.
As a result of the novel's popularity, the name "Manderley" became extremely popular as a name for ordinary houses, and at one time was the most common house name in the UK. Allegedly, Du Maurier's inspiration for the house was Menabilly, near Fowey in Cornwall.
