STROLLING in Trafalgar Square in the spring of 1926, The Sketch writer Beverley Nichols asked Edwin Lutyens how he would improve his surroundings. Distracted by a news ticker flashing across a building, the architect took a while to reply, but eventually looked at the Landseer lions at the foot of Nelson’s column and whispered: ‘If I had my way, I would put a gramophone in the tummy of each of them and make them purr.’ A fanciful answer from the man who had once been hailed (by German scholar Hermann Muthesius) as likely to become ‘the accepted leader among English builders of houses’. Lutyens, however, always confounded expectations—shy yet sociable; inarticulate yet witty; a genius, but, in the words of COUNTRY LIFE’s Architectural Editor of the time, Christopher Hussey, as ‘blithe and unselfconscious as a boy’.
Perhaps most confounding of all was that Lutyens had managed to see good fortune in his ill health. As a child, he had been plagued with rheumatic fever, so, as he once told writer Osbert Sitwell: ‘[I] had to teach myself, for my enjoyment, to use my eyes instead of my feet. My brothers hadn’t the same advantage.’ He was also free to spend much time in the country, at Thursley in Surrey, where he learned the ropes of traditional building techniques—and met the neighbour that would set young ‘Ned’ on his path.
Denne historien er fra October 04, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 04, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
