Agatha Christie's Greenway (Devon, England) - The House
I can think of two places that we visited where I enjoyed the house more than the gardens. The first was Greenway, not for the house itself, which was surprisingly small and cramped, but for the history behind it and the fascinating mementos on display. Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan were enthusiastic collectors. You can see their collections on display throughout the house - European and Oriental ceramics, pottery, African tribal masks, Egyptian artifacts, Tunbridge ware, china, trinkets, and books. The Morning Room has a portrait of Agatha Christie as a child and her doll Rosie, sitting in a chair - The Drawing Room was where the family would gather in the evenings. Christie would entertain guests by reading chapters from manuscripts of her latest books. Agatha Christie's bedroom. Max always slept on a smaller portable traveling cot (you can see part of it in the foreground). It was his favorite bed and he carried it with him on all of his archaeological travels. N...
Wow, I can see how it would seem overwhelming. It is a gorgeous garden on what I would think is a difficult site. They have tamed it well. So much to drool over. Great photos Phillip.
ReplyDeleteI too loved Gardener's Diary and mourned its loss. I've seen this garden in pictures before and it's amazing. Even though you were rightly overwhelmed you've done a nice job of giving a sense of it.
ReplyDeleteThis is insanely beautiful and inspiring. Thanks for the lovely photos. I have a similar but mostly shady woodland garden behind the house, a quarter acre or so that slopes downhill, and even that smallish size absolutely is overwhelming. Hopefully when I retire I can spend more time out there and get control of the ivy, periwinkle, wild strawberry, lamium, etc. that threaten to smother everything else.
ReplyDeleteI saw this great garden a few years ago when I was at Hardy Plant Study Weekend in Portland. I enjoyed it very much, in spite of it being nearly 100 degrees out that weekend. Thanks for sharing your photos and impressions of it. I hope you get a chance to go back.
ReplyDeleteI toured this garden when Fling was in Portland, and am determined to see it again some day. Their open HPSO days don't coincide with my trip to Portland for study weekend, so maybe next year !
ReplyDeleteIt is a disgrace that HGTV is now HTV. I wish they would put all those shows on dvd's. I would buy them.
ReplyDeleteSo lush and green, what a beautiful oasis.
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