Styles Court is a large country estate located near the village of Styles St. Mary, Essex. Historically the home of the Cavendish family, it now operates as a country hotel run by Toby and Mrs Luttrell.
According to Hastings, Styles was a house with a very dark history, as four people died there: Mrs Inglethorp, Mrs Barbara Franklin, Stephen Norton and no one other than Hercule Poirot.
Description[]
After it was sold, the large Victorian rooms at Styles were turned into smaller modern ones. The bathrooms were renewed, and the study room was turned into the laboratory of John Franklin. One of the only rooms that was kept like the original with the exception of new finishings was the one where Arthur Hastings stayed.
History[]
The Mysterious Affair at Styles[]
In The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Styles was owned by Emily Inglethorp, which she inherited her deceased husband Mr Cavendish. She resided there alongside her stepsons John and Lawrence Cavendish, John's wife Mary, her ward Cynthia Murdoch and her second husband, Alfred Inglethorp.
Members of the household staff included Evelyn Howard, Mrs Inglethorp's companion, and a maid named Dorcas.
After the death of Mrs Inglethorp, the estate was inherited John Cavendish.
Curtain[]
By the events of Curtain, Styles Court has been sold and turned into a country hotel run by a older couple, Colonel Toby Luttrell and his wife Daisy. Hercule Poirot has been residing there for a considerable amount of time after .
Other guests include Sir William Boyd Carrington, Elizabeth Cole, Stephen Norton, Judith Hastings, Dr John Franklin and his invalided wife Barbara, and Nurse Craven
In other media[]
- In Agatha Christie's Poirot's adaptation of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Chavenage House in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, was used for the manor's exterior shots.
- In In Agatha Christie's Poirot's adaptation of Curtain, Shirburn Castle in Watlington, Oxfordshire, was used for Styles Court.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The success of the novel would spawn other uses of the name. Archie and Agatha named their Berkshire home Styles.