If walls could talk
Country Life UK|October 02,2024
Is it possible to take on the genius or character of those who have slept in your bed before? Steven King stays in homes with illustrious past owners to find out
Steven King
If walls could talk

WHY should we be (and generally speaking we are) so keen on visiting or (better still) staying in places that belong or once belonged to rich, famous, brilliant or otherwise distinguished people? It's an interesting question and potentially a slightly awkward one, too, concerning as it does an apparently irresistible urge to cosy up to genius, or, if not genius, then at least some kind of exceptional glamour-or, failing that, plain old money.

Plenty of us will book a hotel because (let's say) 'this was where Napoleon preferred to stay when relaxing in St Helena' or 'Marianne North was living here in the 1890s when she did her marvellous paintings of the coco de mer and other extraordinary flora of the Seychelles'.

I've made reservations on roughly that basis.

On one occasion, to my lasting regret, I dragged my wife to the (admittedly perfectly pleasant) suite of rooms in which Véra and Vladimir Nabokov lived in the Montreux Palace Hotel for 15 years or so following the success of Lolita and where the increasingly irascible old mandarin wrote a handful of late, difficult masterpieces. Pieces of the Nabokovs' own furniture, including a lectern at which he stood to write, were still in place and the layout of the rooms remained unchanged. Why regret, then? I'm not sure. Perhaps because my wife never shared my enthusiasm for his novels.

Although she did understand the convenient-for-hunting-Alpine-butterflies element-which was, after all, the main reason why the Nabokovs moved to Montreux. In a way, her appreciation of that fact justified our visit more convincingly than did my own foolish, bookish fancies.

Literature may be a common gateway drug in this respect, although it's not the only one.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM COUNTRY LIFE UKView all
Tales as old as time
Country Life UK

Tales as old as time

By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth

time-read
2 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Do the active farmer test
Country Life UK

Do the active farmer test

Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Country Life UK

Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin

Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts

time-read
2 mins  |
November 13, 2024
SOS: save our wild salmon
Country Life UK

SOS: save our wild salmon

Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Into the deep
Country Life UK

Into the deep

Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
It's alive!
Country Life UK

It's alive!

Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
There's orange gold in them thar fields
Country Life UK

There's orange gold in them thar fields

A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
True blues
Country Life UK

True blues

I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024
Oh so hip
Country Life UK

Oh so hip

Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland

time-read
4 mins  |
November 13, 2024
A best kept secret
Country Life UK

A best kept secret

Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning

time-read
3 mins  |
November 13, 2024