THE last time Grade II-listed Lord’s Wood, near Marlow, Buckinghamshire, appeared on the open market was in 1973, when an article in COUNTRY LIFE (November 15, 1973) was curiously dismissive of the architectural merits of the handsome Lutyens-style house. It was built in 1899 for the artist Mary Sargant-Florence, a prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group, whose daughter, Alix, married James Strachey, youngest brother of one of the group’s founders, Lytton Strachey.
The opening paragraph reads: ‘The house would hardly merit a second look as a piece of architecture; you can see dozens similar in the millionaires’ belt north of Regent’s Park, or in the plushier interstices between the South Coast resorts. But as the contents have been dispersed, and as the house will no doubt fade into managing-directorial anonymity, it is worth recording its history as a Bloomsbury footnote.’
Far from fading into ‘managing-directorial anonymity’, a year later a For Sale sign for Lord’s Wood caught the eye of London art dealer David Messum and his wife, Millie, who were then living in Old Beaconsfield. They bought it within a week, without commissioning a survey and apparently unaware of its Bloomsbury connection.
Denne historien er fra November 17, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 17, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
