Entrance Corridor The entrance to Sieben Heights makes one anxious and weary, almost clausterphobic. In the southeast corner of the hall is a door, behind which is a stairway to the second floor bedrooms and master suite. The home’s architects designed the door to blend with the walls so as not to upset the hall’s symmetry.
Grand Hall Guests of the viscount (of which there are few) enter Sieben through large bronze doors decorated with lions’ heads and flanked by uniformed young doormen on duty every hour of the day. Once inside, guests find themselves in a massive room complete with a grand double staircase leading to the second floor. Seven varieties of marble were used in creating the floor, walls, stairs, furniture, and sculpture for the Grand Hall. The deep green marble table in the south end of the Grand Hall boasts a bust of Caesar Augustus, a copy of an original full-size bronze sculpture made in 20 BC. The Grand Hall’s ceiling is highly decorated with plaster figures and objects. In the ceiling’s central dome is a painting depicting the “Crowning of Knowledge.”
Music Room/Gallery Tiernan employs a resident organist to play the 1,249-pipe organ installed in the west wall in this room, when he does not intend to play himself. He most enjoys the music when working on his latest novel. The furniture selected for the Music Room is easily moved and situated along the north and south walls, making it easy to arrange for musical performances and other occasions. The Music Room doubles as an art gallery and arranged on the walls are some paintings and sculptures from Tiernan's father’s collection, including the “Lady in the Veil” marble bust in the southeast corner of the Music Room. In the dome of the ceiling is a copy of Guido Reni’s “Aurora” painted on canvas.
Ballroom Above fifteen doors and windows in the Louis XV-style Grand Ballroom are lunette paintings created specifically for Sieben Heights. These paintings, painted on canvas, alternate between dark, gruesome scenes of war or disease and scenes of dispair and loneliness. The Grand Ballroom chandeliers are hung with Baccarat crystals. The Grand Ballroom was the scene of the Bal Poudré, a lavish party his mother used to give every November. It has not been thrown since his mother's untimely death.
Private Breakfast Room Used daily by Carrington for less formal meals, he often times takes his breakfast here in absolute silence. Servants have direct access to the Breakfast Room through a door that connected to the butler’s pantry and kitchen area. Breakfast is served at half seven each morning. Any guests staying at Sieben Heights who were not in the Breakfast Room by the appointed time could have their breakfast in their rooms only.
Dining Room The Dining Room was designed in the French Renaissance style. Tiernan's parents once entertained large parties in this room for lengthy, elegant dinners - though the current owner never has nor will. Tiernan does sometimes hold dinners in the Dining Room for his male associates, hosting prominent men from financial, literary, and legal circles, but this is always tense. The rug was specially woven for the room and is recessed into the parquet floor. The wall coverings are green silk, reproductions of the original fabric. Like the Library, the Dining Room ceiling is cast plaster painted to look like wood. One of the room’s most prominent features, the fireplace mantle, incorporates elaborately carved culinary references such as shells, crabs, and fruit.
Araminta's Private Sitting Room The Private Sitting Room was used as a gathering place for music and conversation by Roxelana Carrington and her female guests. The room is adorned with silk fabric and light wood decorated in the Louis XVI style. Above each door and mirror is a cameo of Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated wife of Louis XVI, and an idol of his mother's fancy. Gold leaf highlights the plaster ornaments in the sitting room. This room has been deemed Araminta's for her own uses by the lord of the house.
Tiernan's Private Study Many of Sieben’s first-floor rooms were decorated to have a distinct masculine or feminine feel, according to who principally used the room. The private study, used by Tiernan as a reception area to take care of business matters and meet with business associates, was decorated in the masculine style of the Italian Renaissance. The ceiling is wooden beams with leather insets. Carrington family portraits are mounted on the walls, including a painting of Carrington's mother above the fireplace. There are throughout the room sculptures of masculine strength and virility, such as "Theseus and the Minotaur" or "Tiger Hunt".
Morning Room This room sat between the master and mistress bedrooms. Ancestorial Carringtons preferred a common private sitting room where the family could meet. But sadly, the room was seldom used by Tiernan's family and now sits empty most times. The Louis XV-style gilded screen and spinet piano are original to the room.
Billiard Room Business visitors to Sieban Heights often gather in the Billiard Room for a sound whipping by Tiernan at the game. A Caen Stone mantle with Swiss-style decoration is the predominate feature of the room. The Billiard Room’s molded plaster ceiling is painted to reflect the Swiss design of the room, with plain panels painted to look like zebra oak.
Conservatory The 8,100 square foot conservatory was created to honour the conception of Septimus Leonius into the Carrington family. Often, Tiernan's mother sat amongst the lavish greenery here during her pregnancy with both boys. But after Leo's death, Sextus tore the conservatory to shreads and closed it off from the house. It now sits empty, but still amazing in its size and brilliant natural lighting. Tiernan never visits here.
Araminta's Bedchambers This is the bedroom the master has had set aside for Araminta, befitting her rank. It has recently been aired and redocorated. The suite includes two separate dressing chambers, a large bath area, and a bedroom. The bedroom, decorated in the Louis XIV style, is furnished with the original bedroom furniture. In the dressing chamber outside the master bathroom hangs clothing supplied by the master for his new quest, should she want for it. Beyond the dressing chamber is the bathroom.
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Tiernan's Bedchambers Tiernan's bedchambers are in the centre of the building, the apartments facing north. There is the anteroom, the place to receive official visitors, and to work, then follows the bedchamber, and finally, the closet. The room itself is intimidating as its master. Scarlet fills the room, a favourite colour of the reclusive and odd viscount. The closet is where Tiernan does all of his secretive writing of his novels. Often times, he is up all hours with the candle burning.
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Guest Bedchambers Additional bedrooms to accomodate the many guests the Carringtons used to frequently receive included: the Colonial Room, the Blue Room, the Rose Room, the Louis XV Room, the Gold Room, the Heliotrope Room, and the Green Room. These have all since fallen into neglect, for the current owner does not recieve overnight guests. The Gold Room once belonged to Leo Carrington. It is said to be haunted.
The Colonial Room (for Araminta's Guests) The largest of the fourteen guest rooms is referred to as the Colonial Chamber. The bedroom set, including a bed designed into the alcove, came from Italy. Like all guest rooms at Sieben Heights, the Colonial Chamber includes a private bath and large closet. This room is set for Araminta's family, should they be required to stay.
Catacombs The catacombs, originally created to hide Sieben's riches from enemy hands, now are an intricate maze that Tiernan often frequents. They connect throughout the house and grounds. Some are rough rock and brick, other passageways clean marble.
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Grounds, Gardens & Grotto The gardens of Sieben Heights are much neglected, though one can see what a splendor they once were. They boast a ruin walled lawn, a leaf-clogged fountain, and a walled overgrown rose garden complete with a dilaptated arbor. The most beautiful and enchanted part of the garden though is the "Grotto of Apollo", a man-carved rock structure that has a hidden path down to a water garden and into the catacombs that run under all of the property.
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