So I Was Inspired By @kiragecko To Create A Floor Plan Of Wayne Manor. I Started Out Trying To Be Accurate
So I was inspired by @kiragecko to create a floor plan of Wayne Manor. I started out trying to be accurate to the comics, but eventually gave up because it changed so many times that was impossible. This is more like the manor shown in recent comics, specifically from when Dick and Damian were Batman and Robin, but I also pulled references from a bunch of different comics and from different timelines and the Gotham tv show. At this point this is the floor plan for the mashed up canon that exists in my head. Aside from @kiragecko’s own floor plan, other references included Biltmore, Filoli, Casa Loma, The Breakers, Rosecliff, Marble House, and Darlington/Crocker Mansion. I tried to make it mostly to scale, although I hand drew this and then cleaned it up digitally, so it’s probably a little off in some places. Blue text is what the current Wayne/Batfamily use the rooms for, green is what the historical use was, and black is what they’d likely be listed as on a real estate listing. Green doors are hidden or jib doors, basically doors that aren’t obvious but don’t require a pass code to get through or lead to the Batcave. Purple “doors” are the secret passages like the one hidden behind the grandfather clock that even an observant bystander shouldn’t be able to find and involve much more security. More explanations under the cut.
So the comics are unclear on how the Waynes got Wayne Manor. They say that Nathan van Derm designed it for Darius Wayne, but then also that Darius’s grandsons, Solomon and Joshua, purchased it after Jerome van Derm died. At some point after Joshua died (in 1860), the manor was abandoned and Solomon’s son Alan (Bruce’s great-great-grandfather) rebuilt it.
In my head, the east and west wings of the W would have been later editions. The first version of the manor, up to at least when Alan Wayne rebuilt it, would have probably just been the central portion, out to the 2 towers. Original kitchen would have been in the basement, as well as additional servants quarters. It’s not shown on the plans, but in this version the basement has been renovated to include a gym, movie room, and game area (leaving aside the much cooler basement underneath.) Also not pictured is the third floor/attic, which includes servants quarters and a third floor sitting room above Thomas Wayne’s den that looks out over the front lawn.
With the east and west wings, you can see the very clear divisions in purpose. The west wing was a guest wing, probably added when serious entertaining became a thing, with a dedicated ballroom and guest bedrooms. The east wing downstairs was the servants’ wing - kitchen, staff dining room, butler’s pantry, bedrooms for upper household staff. East wing upstairs was the children’s/nursery wing.
In the center of the house you can see a male/female divide that went with the historical idea of some rooms (billiard room/smoking room/study/library) being “men’s spaces” and some (drawing room/morning room) being “women’s spaces. The bedrooms for the permanent residents of the manor in the 1860s (Solomon and his wife, Joshua, Celestine) follow this divide as well, though unlike other “great houses” Wayne manor didn’t go so far as to have a separate bachelor’s wing.
Regarding the jib doors vs secret passageways - secret passageways are basically entrances to the batcave, although they would’ve also been used by Solomon and Joshua as part of the underground railroad. Off the servery you can see the entrance to the wine cellar where Joshua’s body was eventually found. The jib doors (in green) would have been used by servants or family members to pass between rooms without going into the main hallways. Great for sneaking up on people!
Ok, going into some more specifics - headcanon time! Basically everything beyond this is just in my head, and the Batfam stuff is set at some point in the future. (It’s a really shame they stopped writing Batman Comics right after Bruce came back from they dead. Ric? Ric who? don’t know what you’re talking about).
First, Celestine Wayne. Celestine Wayne is not a comic character. She was loosely inspired by the history of the Waynes from Gotham the tv show, and by loosely I mean her name and the fact that she lived during the Civil War era. There is a C.L. Wayne from that time period who founded the Gotham Botanical Garden in the comics, and in my head they are definitely the same person. In the Wayne family tree in my head her father was Caleb Wayne, and she was Solomon and Joshua’s cousin who became their ward for.......reasons undecided yet. Her father was leading wagon trains and so never home. Something else happened. You pick! She never married (imagine whatever reason you want here, I tend to stay away from the tv show explanation and go with she just wasn’t interested, but any reason works) and so when she became an adult and was still living at the manor but not the “lady of the house” the floor plan was slightly modified to give her her own suite of rooms. Joshua Wayne has something similar in the sense of having his own private study next to his room, although his were only connected by secret passage. Sometime between Dick moving out and Tim moving in permanently, Dick moved from his childhood room into these rooms (leaving Tim free to move into his old bedroom, a thing that actually happened in the comics). Maybe this happened when he was adopted? Maybe when he and Bruce kinda reconciled after Bruce got his back broken? Who knows! There was definitely a period where to Dick the Manor was Not His Home Anymore, and so in his mind he probably didn’t have a permanent room there (and tried to avoid staying there). Think of the moving to the “grown up full suite” as a really old fashioned way of Bruce or Alfred or both saying “I recognize you’re an adult with your own life and autonomy and I cannot treat you like a child, but also this is your home and you will always have a permanent place here.”
Other rooms of note - most mansions I referenced did not have a dedicated armoury, but it’s Batman! Of course there’s an armoury. For historical artifacts, a lot of these weapons sure seem functional......
The tea room was not originally a tea room but somewhere along the way at least one of the Wayne matriarchs was very fond of afternoon tea. With Alfred in the manor it is definitely a Space for Afternoon Tea, although it also gets used for other meals occasionally and Alfred will do a lot of his meal planning/any other paperwork there, even though he technically has an office.
When Thomas and Martha were alive, there were actually full time staff living at the manor beyond Alfred and the staff quarters got used, and the “servant’s hall” actually got used as a staff dining room, but now this is where the family members tend to gather if there’s too many of them to just eat in the kitchen. (In my head, Wayne Manor during Thomas and Martha’s life is basically the Wayne Manor described by @unpretty who has written some of my favorite Batman fics ever.)
When Bruce was growing up, Thomas Wayne’s den was the “casual family living room” that every other sitting room in the manor was not, and after he died Bruce couldn’t bear to touch anything in it and avoided it unless he was doing some hardcore brooding. When he moved back/took in Dick, he converted one of the bedrooms to a tv room because he wanted a space that was casual and none of the other spaces felt like a tv belonged in them, but he still couldn’t go in his father’s den. As things have gotten better, and also as Tim and Damian’s relationship improved and Tim started coming around more, Bruce was finally ready to let this go and this became basically Tim’s workspace for whenever he’s at the manor. Bruce will work on stuff in there if Tim is in there, but he still doesn’t spend a lot of time in there on his own. (Ok, this was a little bit inspired by a Rebirth comic, don’t know which one, not gonna find it, I’m sure the rest of it was silly). Bruce tends to use the study downstairs if he’s working on W.E. work or other stuff like that. Jason and Dick’s go to places for any type of homework (when they were living at the manor) or any other work they might have to sit down and do are one of the libraries or wherever Bruce or Alfred are, depending on their mood and what they’re working on, and how long they’ve been living at the manor.
I’m pretty sure Martha Wayne painting/drawing is canon, but I don’t remember the comic it was referenced in. Anyway, she turned what was being used as a sunroom into her art studio because it had the best light. With Damian in the manor it’s slowly being reclaimed by art supplies.
There are definitely rolling mirrors and freestanding barres in the ballroom that Cass uses for dance practice.
Not pictured: the massive garage, stables, tennis courts, basketball courts, gardens, pond, and basically everything on the grounds.
If anyone is curious about what comic panels I referenced (or ignored), or what real world rooms/houses inspired specific parts, shoot me a message! Also, feel free to use this in art/fics/whatever if you want a reference!
More Posts from Brightening-glance and Others
i think what turns me off, really, to a lot of late preboot stories is that they’re just so damn cynical about everything - i don’t love superheroes because i’m infatuated with the idea that Everything Sucks And Everyone Is An Asshole To Each Other All The Time, i love superheroes because i want to believe the world can be fixed. i love cape comics because they elevate characters who have idealistic worldviews above those that don’t, i love cape comics because it’s a world where idealism is never a lost cause.
i’ve talked about this issue before, but there’s a reason my favorite batman story of all time is detective comics #500’s, “to kill a legend.” in it, phantom stranger offers batman the chance to go save his parents’ lives in another dimension, and batman accepts. as batman and robin investigate the world they’re in, they discover that this earth has no heroes, not even fictional ones. they’re in a world that can’t even conceive the idea of a hero, much less actually harbor them. so robin makes the argument that maybe they shouldn’t save batman’s parents, because this is the only shot the world has at having a hero - and doesn’t the good batman will do outweigh the price of just two lives?
it’s the sort of moral dilemma that we see fairly often today, but ‘tec #500 shoots it down ruthlessly. batman, of course, saves his parents, and the waynes of that dimension remain a whole and happy family. you’d think that batman had just selfishly saved his own parents and cost the world its last chance at a hero. but bruce wayne becomes batman anyway, because 'tec’s argument is that it is never a bad thing to save someone’s life. the lives batman saves will go on to save other lives. the great ouroboros of comic books isn’t infinite sadness or infinite dickery, it’s infinite potential to do good. batman raises robin who becomes nightwing who will become batman who will redeem another robin, and morrison’s run told us that batman and robin will never die, which means they never fail; their belief in doing good never once fails them. the lives they saved always turned to save more lives. to quote batman #700, “no matter when. no matter where. no matter how dark.”
i love cape comics because the very concept of them rewards hoping against all hope. superheroes by nature reward the idea of genuine belief; believing enough in a cause that you will splash it across your chest and put yourself on the line to make it happen. and in a world where everyone is competing to see who can give less of a fuck, it’s a very powerful thing to read about being praised for believing in “naive” or “childish” ideals like hope and truth and justice. i’m not here to read about how everyone really hates each other and everyone is the worst and everyone dies and everything is bad forever and ever. i’m just not.
Also another thing that I cut out of my post about Dick and flying trapeze, but am posting here: height. Because I’ve seen a lot of talk about Dick’s height on tumblr recently. You can headcanon Dick at whatever height you want. Go nuts, have fun. But. First off – trapeze and aerials and acrobatics are all different things, and they are all different from artistic gymnastics. The “ideal” body for a gymnast is not the same as the “ideal” body for an aerialist or a trapeze artist. While there is crossover, they are not the same. (Example: I can throw a full twisting layout off a trapeze. If I’m on the ground, I can usually manage a cartwheel.) Dick in comics is obviously good at gymnastics as well. In the comics, on trapeze, Dick has been both a flyer and a catcher. I have a friend who’s 5’1, which would actually be on the tall side for elite women’s gymnastics. She is an amazing flyer. There are tricks on flying trapeze she is too short to throw. Not a lot of them, but there are some. In my experience, guys who are both great flyers and great catchers tend to be 5’10-6’0, 175-180 lbs. This isn’t a scientific study, this is just personal experience, and you can have Dick be whatever height you want in your story or headcanon or whatever, those are yours, but in canon I’d say this is something DC actually got right for once. And there’s no reason Dick can’t be 5’10 or even 6’0 and still be a great flyer. Being tiny is not a requirement for being a good flyer, those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
So I’ve been reading the Nightwing One Year Later comics, starting with Nightwing: Brothers in Blood, which was weird but not as bad as I was expecting from what I’d seen of people talking about it. I really liked Roy showing up in the last issue to basically bail Dick out and then the two of them proceeding to banter for the rest of the issue, which was just a lot of fun. I also really liked Dick and Cheyenne’s relationship -- or, not liked the relationship, but liked the writing of it, in the sense of “these people are not going to work out due to circumstance and personality and just not meshing but at least one of them wants to keep trying but it’s also still casual” complicated messiness of it. it was a nice change of pace to read a relationship where this was not “the one” and the people in the relationship knew that - i mean, three comics later when dick thinks back on his past relationships, cheyenne isn’t even included.
i also thought dick and jason’s relationship was really interesting. and, related, loved seeing clancy again. the comics never really expanded on dick and jason’s relationship after their first meeting but before jason died, although there are hints of it. but jason seemed really invested in being brothers with dick, and even if dick seems callous at times (which arguably, fair - all jason’s done since he’s been back is try to kill him and his family) he’s still absolutely determined to rescue jason when he gets captured. also interesting that jason calls dick “dickebird” and “dickie” - i think the only other people i’ve seen call him that are john and mary grayson, and i feel like that parallel would make an interesting/emotional story
coat ca. 1970 via The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
this was my ask! :D :D :D your post about potential metas (and also your lovely dick grayson timeline) was one of the things that inspired me to dig up my old tumblr and finally start using it (the other being my need to rant about dick grayson and circus). i don’t really have anything to add other than i miss this dynamic and i have definitely been ignoring the modern stuff and reading 90s comics. and just ugh! siblings! family!
the dick and tim meta was not long (ok, it was but it was great) and you should definitely talk about their relationship! (if you feel like it) (i just want dc to let them be brothers again i miss it) (this is the void again btw, that's who i am now i guess 😂)
GOD i got this lovely ask way too long ago to have not responded yet, but I was trying to sort out if I had a well thought out meta for you. I don’t. I just wanna give a very unordered ramble.
Dick and Tim were really the first close sibling bond either of them had. Dick of course had Jason as a brother first, but at the time Jason was Robin, Dick was off being a predominantly Titans character in New York, and not vibing with Bruce, so even though they got along they weren’t close.
But Dick and Tim!! True sibs. The best boys.
Here is Dick calling Tim his little brother long before they’d become actual adoptive siblings [Secret Origins 80-Page Giant]. I love one (1) man.
Dick had his own life going on outside of Gotham, but he still became Tim’s mentor almost as much as Bruce, and his confidant far more. The number of times Tim and Dick hung out and Tim got big brother advice is...so many.
[Robin #61]
And they were Batman and Robin together the first time Dick donned the cowl, where they worked together perfectly and also had a fun time doing it. Plus, Dick lived in the Manor and made Tim learn household tasks
[Robin #12]
And also!! I get emotional! About them being so connected so early on!! Tim’s introduction was all about Dick, not about Bruce. His backstory was from Dick’s, and the first person he sought out in his introductory storyline was Dick, before he met Bruce at all.
Tim got a hug from a kid at the circus when he was a tiny tim and then saw that kid’s parents die, and that set the whole course of his life. He remembered details of that for yeeeears and it’s what led him to figure out Batman’s identity.
Obvs Dick’s backstory is defined by losing his parents, and so they both come from this same event which completely changed them in different ways, and then led them back together and I :’)
Dick genuinely means so much to Tim. That’s his idol, the Robin he looked up to, the kid he attached to so thoroughly, and then his older brother and mentor and confidant and partner. And Tim is Dick’s little-brother-by-choice, the first one he mentored to be Robin, worked with as Batman, could and would beat a clown to death to protect.
And then for like 15 years Dick and Tim were this tight trio along with Bruce (Babs and Steph having their own families, Cass being as much under Babs’s mentorship as Bruce’s, Jason being dead, and Damian not existing yet) and closet not-but-basically siblings, and great, and I love them.
[Gotham Knights #8]
In conclusion, current DC should stop sleeping on them and also everyone should read comics from the 90s which was the best batfam era, the end.
Dress
Christian Dior, 1955
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indigo means serenity.
Central Florida Emergency Trans Care Fund
Equality Florida
ACLU Florida
Tampa Bay Abortion Fund
Whovengers
Fury = The Doctor: Both look after their bands of misfits, and defend the Earth. Tony = Jack: International/intergalactic playboys willing to die for the greater good. Many times over in Jack’s case. Steve = Martha: Underdogs who became heroes, fighting tyrants for freedom and justice. Bruce = Donna: Both forced to embrace a personality they didn’t want. The only difference is, Donna no longer remembers what it was like to be fully her. Natasha = Amy: Both badass redheads with pasts they tend to run from. Clint = Rory: Soldier types who always come as a package deal with their badass redhead. Phil = Mickey: Both The Man In Havana, both eventually drawn to Big Fucking Guns. Maria = River: The capable second-in-command. Thor = Rose: Both channel godlike powers (that they had to prove themselves worthy of.) Also, both blonde. Loki = The Master: These two would get on like a house on fire…no survivors.
I’m kinda curious what this is referring to, because I haven’t seen any Really Bad Circus Takes recently (which obviously doesn’t mean they don’t exist, just that I haven’t seen them on my dashboard) and I’m just super nosy.
(totally understand if you don’t want to reblog the specific post or anything though. like i said, just curious!)
People in this fandom have no fucking clue about circus life and the culture surrounding it. And it shows
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