Allhope House

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Allhope House is the mansion of the fairy prince John Hollyshoes. It is in some way connected with the village of Allhope in Derbyshire, but as the proprietor tells Mr Simonelli "over the years the house and village have become separated and now stand, as you see, at some distance from each other"[LoGA].

The ruler of Allhope House is, however, by right the Lord of the Manor of Allhope - or at any rate, believes himself to be such. John Hollyshoes certainly considers the inhabitants of that unfortunate village his tenants, if not his serfs, and behaves towards them in an abominably high-handed and tyrannical fashion - stealing their women to become his paramours or servants, and destroying such of them as happen to displease him.

Mr Simonelli describes Allhope House as "a very ancient-looking place, the different parts of which had been built at many different times and of a great variety of materials. There were flints and stones, old silvery-grey timbers, and rose-red brick that glowed very cheerfully in the gloom." But he goes on to add that it is in a state of "utmost neglect", with broken windows and doors hanging off their hinges, and the interior is to his eyes even worse: "It was altogether such an extraordinary blending of magnificence and filth as I could never have conceived of..."[LoGA]

Although its master always refers to his home as Allhope House, it is perhaps significant that the peasantry of the district call it 'End-of-all-Hope House'.