The honest answer is, probably, that nobody knows. However, the arrival on the scene of two notable properties—an early- Georgian gem in Wiltshire’s Chalke Valley and a restored 17th-century masterpiece near Chichester, West Sussex—may provide some clarity.
In 1947, following Broadway success and a new contract with film-maker Alexander Korda, the Society photographer, artist, stage and costume designer Cecil Beaton was looking to buy a house in the country. A friend, the writer Edith Olivier, introduced him to pretty, red-brick Reddish House in the village of Broad Chalke, eight miles from Salisbury. Instantly captivated, he readily agreed to buy it for £10,000. For the next 32 years, until his death in 1980, the house, described by Christopher Hussey as ‘an outstanding example of rustic Baroque’ (COUNTRY LIFE, March 21, 1957), was Beaton’s cherished country home, where he entertained his many friends from the worlds of the Arts, stage and screen. Among them was Greta Garbo, to whom he proposed marriage, inviting her to ‘build her nest’ here. The offer was politely declined.
Previously known as Littlecotes Farm, Reddish House was originally a farmhouse on lands given to Wilton Abbey by King Eadwig in 955 and transferred to Sir William Herbert after the Dissolution. From 1560, the manor farm was owned by the Reddish family of nearby Maiden Bradley, who sold it to a wealthy clothier, Jeremiah Cray, in 1696.
Denne historien er fra June 17, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 17, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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
