Although it might currently be considered daringly modish to paint your walls black, David Hicks was doing it half a century ago and Sir Edwin Lutyens half a century before that. Modernists may like to consider themselves rather edgy, but Modernism was already pretty edgy a whole century ago, when Eileen Gray designed the romantically named House E-1027 at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (‘Sensuous Modernism’, January 8).
This story is from the May 13, 2020 edition of Country Life UK.
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This story is from the May 13, 2020 edition of Country Life UK.
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All dolled up
Automata made in 19th-century France provided inspiration for the work of American artist Thomas Kuntz and a vintage dolls' house, furnished with period-appropriate pieces, stars in a charity auction
Just keep walking
ALMOST 30 years ago, a chap called Ian Bleasdale wrote a guide detailing all the walks on the Greek Island of Paxos. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had fallen for the island's rugged charms and, after many visits tramping its networks of old paths, decided to share their knowledge with like-minded souls.
Delicious drupes
THERE is a peculiar magic in growing almonds. However often you see their soul-lifting, frost-risking flush of white blossom and however often you collect a basket of homegrown almonds, it's hard to lose the sense of glorious impossibility, that somehow you've cheated geography and climate.
It started with a blank canvas
The garden of Patthana, Co Wicklow, Ireland The home of T. J. Maher and Simon Kirby An exquisite small garden is rich in colour and texture and has been imaginatively extended, as you would expect of a painter's domain, reports Jane Powers
Escape to 'God's own country"
Yorkshire folk are rightly proud of their county's magnificent landscapes and rich architectural heritage, but incomers looking to settle there face strong competition from local contenders for picture-perfect country houses
By the light of the harvest moon
As autumn's whisper reminds farmers to reap their crops, inspect your produce for a suggestion of the winter to come, says Lia Leendertz
Building blocks
We can expect fireworks: Labour’s draft plans for a new planning policy contain subtle, but devastating amendments that bear closer inspection
Friends in low places
As special as orchids, as beautiful as bluebells and as important as oaks, our ground-hugging mosses are worth a look down, says Mark Cocker
Talk of the ton
During the golden age of gossip, the fashion choices of the Regency elite were frequently the scintillating subject of the scandal sheets, finds Susan Jenkins
Slopes of hazard
Skiing, ironically, is the safest thing you can do in St Moritz, says Rosie Paterson, who traces the Swiss resort's love affair with adrenaline-pumping winter sports back to a Victorian bet
