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THE LONG BEDROOM
The north-facing long bedroom is bright and warm and although Helen slept all over the house, sometimes even on a mattress she moved around, this was her favourite room to
spend the night in. The main windows take up most of the outside-facing wall, allowing light to flood the room.
According to friends, Helen kept her old clothing in this room. Among the items were fine dresses and shoes which were fashionable when she was a young woman in the 1920s.
Although she never wore these items in later life, she stipulated in an unwitnessed will that they were not to be sold or given away under any circumstances, suggesting they were
precious and a reminder of her previous life beyond the confines of Nieu-Bethesda.
The room contains two of the many cement owl chairs with inverted faces throughout the house and yard. According to her friend Jill Wenman, these were of her own design and
she was extremely proud of them. The circular table has a single leg in the shape of a coiled snake, an image that appears frequently throughout the work of William Blake, an artist
and poet she drew inspiration from.
Mirrors are used to the greatest effect here. Among the seven mirrors is one of a series shaped to resemble a heart and a hand-mirror. Helen reportedly had one of her own handmirrors
copied and enlarged. The top pane of the clear glass window features another green sun similar to the pair in the dining room.
150 FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT
FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT 151