Since the beginning of the show Bridgerton and Featherington Houses have been presented as visual representations of the families who live in them, and the lady who runs them. In season 4 we saw the aesthetics in the Featherington House evolve providing a visual representation of Penelope's new position as both a Bridgerton, and ostensibly the lady of the house in Featherington House, as the mother of the new Lord Featherington. In Bridgerton House there has been no change in the aesthetics beyond Kate and Anthony's private rooms, providing no visual representation of Kate's role not only as a Bridgerton, but as the one running Bridgerton House as The Viscountess Bridgerton. This difference in how the two houses are decorated may seem trivial, something not worth discussing, but the difference in these spaces sends a strong message from the production team to the viewers.
Featherington House was very quickly redesigned for season 4, following Penelope's marriage to Colin, not just in their private rooms but throughout the house, with the entry hall being the most obvious. Alongside the Featherington Yellow the set design team have incorporated blue tones, a colour that has been associated with the Bridgertons since the beginning of the show. Thus, incorporating blue into the main rooms of the Featherington household is significant, it communicates that Penelope is no longer just a Featherington but is now also a Bridgerton, but further that Featherington House is Penelope's house and her domain.
Bridgerton House, however, tells a different story. After Kate married Anthony, becoming The Viscountess Bridgerton, Bridgerton House outside of Kate and Anthony's private rooms remained - and continue to remain - free from any visual representation of Kate's status, or even her existence in the Bridgerton family. Whilst we saw a redesign of Kate and Anthony's bedroom and Kate's study in season 3, to include some of her cultural influences, this inclusion of Kate's personality and culture has not translated through to the rest of Bridgerton House.
This may seem like it isn't that big of a deal, or not that serious, after all not every set needs to be redesigned each season. It is important to note here that Bridgerton is known for using its sets almost as a character in themselves, and the sets and locations form part of the narrative of the season, and Bridgerton House is no exception. Bridgerton House centres both the Bridgerton family and the Viscountcy, the woman who runs Bridgerton House holds a position of power in the family, and in the Ton. In season 2 it was made clear that Anthony's wife would be running the house as the Viscountess, however in recent series - since Anthony's marriage - we see Violet still functioning as the primary female authority within Bridgerton House. Violet continues as the hostess for the household, centred whilst the household runs around her, however Kate is the Viscountess and her presence is not felt within the home that is now hers.
This absence of Kate's presence was very noticeable in season 4 where much of the main love story of Benedict and Sophie took place within the bounds of Bridgerton House. Within this storyline we see Kate's in-laws still centred within the house whilst Kate was absent or pushed to the preiphery, barely noticed or acknowledged as the rightful female authority within the house. The pushing aside of Kate is not only presented via her absence within the family's acknowledgement or consciousness, but also through the visual statements made in the set design through the lack of any visual representation of Kate within Bridgerton House, it still feels very much like Violet's house not Kate's house. It is Violet that controls the space, it is Kate's in-laws that occupy the space, and it is Kate - as the Viscountess - who is pushed to the side with no visible presence in her home.
I began by talking of the redesign of Featherington House, and it is this contrast with how the production very quickly updated and redesigned the space for Penelope but failed to do so for Kate that reveals their priorities within the narrative storytelling in Bridgerton. The issue is not that Featherington House has evolved to provide the visual acknowledgement of Penelope's new position in the household, but rather that Bridgerton House has not evolved to provide that same acknowledgement of Kate's position. This leads to the question of why is Penelope's position in the Bridgerton family given visual representation in Featherington House, but Kate's position in the Bridgerton family is invisible within Bridgerton House?
This is about more than two characters whose homes have been presented differently, it feeds directly into the ideas and practicalities of representation in media, and in Bridgerton specifically. Bridgerton is known for its diverse casting, but they do not follow through with centring the characters who are not white, they do not give equal importance, or equal consideration to their non white characters. Kate is the only South Asian in the cast with a significant role, yet she has been stripped of any presence within the home that is hers, she has been pushed to the side and made invisible within the family she has married into, whilst Penelope - who is white - has not. Penelope is included as a Bridgerton, Kate is not, and this is reflected in the spaces they occupy and present to the world.
The fact that Featherington House was redesigned to provide visual clues of Penelope's inclusion within the Bridgerton family show that Bridgerton understands how important the set design is in communicating the idea of a character's identity, position and belonging. This is why the absence of Kate's personality and cultural identity from Bridgerton House is so telling. For a production that understands the visual storytelling as much as the oral storytelling the absence of Kate's influence in Bridgerton House is telling a story to the viewer, but is it the story they want to tell?