Gardens | The Travel Lady In Her Shoes

Thursday Doors at Tintinhull

Tintinhull, A National Trust Property in Somerset, UK

Main Entrance at Tintinhull

The Boxwood Entrance at Tintinhull, Notice the Diamond Shaped Stone Walkway

Tintinhull, a National Trust property in Somerset, was our second stop of the day on our way to Cornwall.

Keep in mind that finding a particular National Trust property makes some of the best adventures! They are usually off the beaten path and although are addressed in small villages many times I never find the small village!

Tintinhull, is a small, tidy property that just fits the bill. By 1630 the Napper family had constructed the east side of the present house, and this was extended by Andrew Napper in 1722 when the classical west facade and forecourt were built. In about 1900 Tintinhull was sold to Dr S J M Price. He developed the west forecourt as a garden, laying the distinctive diamond-patterned flagged walk and planting the flanking clipped domes of boxwood. Notice the big eagles on the wall too! In 1933 Tintinhull was sold to Captain and Mrs P.E. Reiss, who developed garden enclosures linked by carefully designed vistas and rich planting. Phyllis Emily Reiss created a garden around the 17th century manor house, with six compartments, each room having it’s own character and identity, divided by clipped hedges and walls. She designed the Pool Garden as a memorial to a nephew killed in WWII. The house, gardens and woodland walk create all the charm at Tintinhull!

In July 1939 Reiss made two broadcasts for the BBC entitled ‘In my Garden.’ In 1959 she gave Tintinhull to the National Trust although she lived there until her death on the 18th September 1961.

Penelope Hobhouse and her husband, Professor John Malins lived at Tintinhull for fourteen years and was in charge of the gardens there from 1980 until 1993. With a name like Penelope Hobhouse, (my auto spelling corrector wants to name her Penelope Hothouse) it’s a given that she was a garden writer, garden historian, self taught gardener and lecturer. She went on to design many gardens in England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the United States. I especially like her name and I think it is perfect for a gardener! She has written several garden books, and Penelope Hobhouse on Gardening, written in 1994, describes her gardening experiences at Tintinhull. You can find a video of her Here.

Now let’s take a look at Tintinhull!

The Garden Map at Tintinhull

Birds on the Wall Is Always Good!

Another Entrance to Tintinhull

A Very Small Door at Tintinhull

How about this very small door! Was it an opening to a guard shack? Did you drop off the mail here? What was it used for?

A Few Doors to be Seen Here!

I LOVE the Color of the Stone Too!

Penelope Hobhouse was noted for her Terra Cotta planters! And I don’t want to miss the windows either!

Some Window Treatment at Tintinhull

Another Door, More Windows and Some More Pots!

Inside Tintinhull

Only two rooms are open for viewing at Tintinhull. Short, sweet, and modest!

Inside Tintinhull, with Very Deep Doorways!

Inside Tintinhull

The Barn Tea Room Entrance Doors at Tintinhull

Inside the Tearoom at Tintinhull

A Few Garden Photos at Tintinhull

Did you find the doorways in the garden?

Row Houses at Tintinhull

This section of Row Houses must refer to the village at Tintinhull! This is the only “village” I saw! Loved their cottage gardens and what else? More Red Doors!

Row Houses at Tintinhull

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0! Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors? See you next week!

The Gardens at Stourhead, a National Trust Property

A Garden Gate at Stourhead

One of the many lovely things about the Gardens at Stourhead is the Estate Walk and many other seasonal walks on the grounds. Many of the paths lead around the big lake that is framed by the hilly terrain. When we did the tour of the manor house a gentle, but steady rain was coming down, but after the manor tour was over and we headed out to the garden paths it was pouring! That did not deter a group of scheduled ramblers, who departed from their buses and vans prepared for the weather, in walking boots and rain gear, and carrying one or two walking sticks. I was not as prepared and had been up all night on an overseas flight so we took as many pictures as we could before getting drenched and then headed out to our next National Trust destination that morning, hoping the weather would turn for the best. Here is a LIST of some of the upcoming walking events and future highlights at Stourhead.

First let’s take a look at the entry into Stourhead. It sets the mood, your home is your castle! And Stourhead has the gates and crenelations to prove it! Loved that clock too!

Entry into Stourhead, a National Trust Property

Entry into Stourhead, a National Trust Property with Lots of Ivy!

Gated Walls and Meadows at Stourhead

Now let’s look at those gardens!

Another Gate to the Gardens at Stourhead!

Notice the meadow look? We’ve noticed a lot of the National Trust gardens and others are turning part of their land back to meadows, with natural flowers and habitats for birds aplenty!

The Front Meadow at Stourhead

The Formal Gardens at Stourhead, Framed by the Woodlands

The Formal Gardens at Stourhead

The Gardens at Stourhead, Inside the Walls

The Gardens at Siourhead, Inside the Walls

The Gardens at Stourhead, Inside the Walls

The Gardens at Stourhead, Inside the Walls, all Neat and Tidy and Wet!

The Flowers of Stourhead

P1020868

Which Way to Go? Choices, Choices!

Well I hope you enjoyed a very abbreviated and wet tour through the gardens! Were you carrying an umbrella? We would definitely place Stourhead on our Return Garden List!

Off to another National Trust Property, see you there!

Thursday’s Doors, Stourhead

The Gate Keepers Cottage, Stourhead

Today’s Doors come from the gardens at Stourhead, a National Trust estate in Devon, UK. This summer as part of my “English Garden Tour” I again explored many fine estates and gardens, both public and private, as I toured along my path to Cornwall and then back to Sussex and Kent.

These are photos of the fabulous doors I found at Stourhead! If you would like to know more about the estate look HERE in the previous post about it!

When you arrive at Stourhead, you pass the gate keepers cottage. I loved the door, and the look of the cottage was just my style.

I can’t imagine living in the estate house with all those pictures to dust and all those rooms to clean. Of course, the owners of Stourhead didn’t have to do any of that either! They had plenty of servants, housemaids, butlers, farm workers, gardeners, and ground keepers to maintain their 2600 acre estate. But, I am glad the National Trust preserves not only the manor house, but all the out buildings as well. It gives you a proper prospective of things, although I imagine the estate cottages and out buildings are nicer today than they were back in the day!

Stourhead, of course, has the estate house and this was the door that welcomed you in! There are lots of rooms to tour here and a very interesting family history.

The Main Entry Door at Stourhead Manor House

The Manor House at Stourhead, (Notice the Main Entrance and the Servants Entrance!)

Then there are the out buildings and these doors were some of my favorites!

The Mossy Green Door at Stourhead

A Close Up of the Limey Green Door, Stourhead

A Close Up of the Mossy Green Door, Stourhead

I love that stonework too and the door defines the mossiness of it!

A Thursday Window That I Liked Too, Ha Ha

Another Outbuilding with Limey Green Door and Fantastic Windows

Another Outbuilding with Mossy Green Door and Fantastic Windows

Workers Cottages at Stourhead

The Row of Workers Cottages at Stourhead

Of course the connected worker’s cottages were my very favorite! And they all had Red Doors!

The Red Cottage Doors!

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0! Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors? See you next week!

The Hoare House, aka Stourhead, a National Trust Estate

Stourhead

I’m back from my “Garden Tour of England” and as you have learned from the previous post, written by the garden fairies here at The End Cottage, we are caught up with my own garden chores and all the guests are back home! Hence the delay in sharing my adventure!

It takes me months to plan which National Trust properties I will visit. After I decide on the properties I determine as many public and private gardens as I can in close proximity to the National Trust sights that I have picked out, and voila, my schedule of touring is complete! There is so much to see and do! So, let’s take a walk through the grounds and home of the Hoare family, here at Stourhead. It is the first of many delights this year on my Garden Tour of England. I have separated the posts into the house and to follow, the gardens.

The Story of Harry……… really it starts with all those Henrys and Richards in the Hoare family, who had nicknames of “good,” “magnificent,” and “naughty” to tell them apart. Sir Richard Hoare, was a goldsmith, in 1673, in London. Goldsmiths had secure premises and were the storehouses for cash and valuables so they were in a unique position to start a system of banking: lending their customers money for interest. He was granted the Freedom of the Goldsmith’s Company on July 5th, 1672 and this marked the foundation of the Hoare’s Bank. He was knighted by Queen Anne in 1702 and then became Lord Mayor of London in 1712. His son, Good Henry, was a partner in the family bank, Hoare and Co. Henry the Good, lived at the bank during the week and wanted a country estate for holidays and leisure. In 1717 he bought the medieval Stourton estate for 14,000 pounds and renamed it Stourhead after the source of the Stour River. He built Stourhead House based on a 16th century Venetian villa, but died before his grand design was completed. Henry Hoare, “the Magnificent,” grandson of Richard, and son of Henry the Good, dominated the family with his wealth and personal charisma and was a great patron of the arts. He expanded the estate and the gardens that were considered a showcase. The garden was completed in 1770 and it’s fame spread quickly and became a must see destination with the breathtaking landscape and classical temples set around the lake. The grounds included a Grotto, a Gothic Cottage, the Pantheon, the Temple of Apollo, and the Temple of Flora.

Temple of Apollo, Stourhead

Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare (perhaps the naughty) and his wife Augusta inherited Stourhead in 1883, but it soon spiraled into decay when costs grew impossible to manage, because she loved living in the country and he preferred city life. Ainslie’s flamboyant lifestyle forced him to leave the bank and auction Stourhead paintings, furniture and books. He left Stourhead in 1885.

In 1894, after the death of his cousin, Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare and his wife Alda, inherited the unoccupied house that had sat empty for 10 years and the 2,650 acre estate with the run down, neglected and overgrown gardens. They decided to pack up and leave their home, Wavendom in Buckinghamshire, and move with their son, Harry Hoare, to Stourhead, to create a special home for their only son. Harry and his parents loved the estate and worked hard to make it the beauty it once had been.

The Entrance Hall at Stourhead

The Library at Stourhead

Little Dining Room at Stourhead

The Column Room at Stourhead

Ornate Cabinet in the Column Room, Stourhead

Ornate Cabinet in the Cabinet Room, Stourhead

I love that Poppy Red Color!

Detail of Ornate Cabinet in the Column Room, Stourhead

Detail of Ornate Cabinet in the Cabinet Room, Stourhead

An Ornate Cabinet in the Cabinet Room at Stourhead

The Italian Room at Stourhead

The Picture Gallery at Stourhead

Fancy Way of Saying, DO NOT SIT at Stourhead

In 1902, a fire broke out in a chimney and burned for hours. The center of the house collapsed from the attic down to the cellars. The family, servants, gardeners, estate workers and farm hands worked to salvage as much as possible from the burning building. Paintings were cut from their frames and furniture was thrown out of windows. The Hoares worked again to restore the house they so loved, especially for Harry, since he had grown up here and loved every inch of the place and this would always be his home. As you can see from the many rooms of Stourhead, saving everything would have been quite a challenge! It was vast with huge collections of Everything!

On August 1, 1914, Harry joined the Dorset Yeomanry and within a week he was no longer the estate manager, working for his father, but a soldier fighting for his country. His military career was plagued with injury and ill health and every time he was taken ill he would return to Stourhead to be cared for by his parents. After each recovery Harry returned to the battlefield.

During WWI the house and grounds were opened to the “Tommies” from the nearby Red Cross Hospital at Mere. Alda made arrangement for the soldiers to have outings on the property. Especially popular with the men was fishing in the Flora Bay and afterwards Alda would serve tea to all the boys at The Flora Temple. Flowers, grapes and vegetables were also sent to support the troops at the hospital.

On December 19, 1917, Captain Henry Holt Arthur Hoare (Harry), was shot in the lungs at the Battle of El Mugher in Palestine and died of his wounds in Raseltin Hospital in Alexandria. He was buried in the Hadra Military Cemetery there. Harry’s parents were devastated after his untimely death and made plans to bequeath the home and grounds to charity, opening the estate to visitors. On show days visitors were shown around by the butler or the head housemaid, following strict rules. In 1946, one year before the death of Harry’s father, the estate was split and half was gifted to the National Trust and half remains in family ownership.

Visiting this extraordinary house and gardens was made that much more interesting by learning about the family, the house and grounds. That’s what makes the estates in the National Trust so interesting, they are preserving History! Particularly fun was the large display of 19th century women’s hats found in the estate ticket office! Women and children spent a lot of time trying on the hats and primping in front of the mirrors! A first for me in a National Trust property!

Hoare and Co. is the oldest private bank in the United Kingdom. As the business prospered it was moved to 37 Fleet Street, where it still is today and run by the 11th generation of Hoare’s direct descendants.

Next we’ll visit the Gardens at Stourhead! See you there!

Where Is CadyLuckLeedy?

At the Trellis

Hi! Garden fairies here. We are the fairies that live at The End Cottage, abode of CadyLuckNeedy, er Leedy! Ever since we returned from the UK, we have had to do most of the work in our garden! You see we think we are being punished, just a bit, because we pulled off a fast one! Last year we read all about her “English Garden Tour” on the blog, after Cady had made plans to tour gardens on the National Garden Scheme and the National Trust, in Kent and Sussex. It sounded like so much fun and all those pictures of flowers, stately homes, and cottage gardens were fabulous! So this year when Cady planned another tour, this time to Cornwall, Kent and Sussex, we hid in the suitcases and went too! Boy, did it get hot and stuffy in there, not to mention all the movement! We were quite dizzy for a few days, but, it paid off when we got to Cornwall and met up with some of our garden fairy friends! What a blast we had! All those gardens with magical hiding places were just right for partying! We will add our own thoughts about the gardens if Cady doesn’t get a move on with the blog! Just what is her problem?

After we returned from the UK it has been guest after guest at the cottage! And Cady really ignored us and became the big entertainer of guests! First, it was the grandkids and all that talk about college, blah, blah, blah. Then it was “Aunt Jan.” Forget about helping us in the garden. Cady and Aunt Jan just sat on the sitting porch and yacked it up and laughed and laughed.

The Sitting Porch

You could hear them from down the street! Occasionally they looked over at the garden and as always after a big garden tour you knew there was going to be changes in ours! Gardeners just can’t help it, they are always changing things up! Their big idea of fun was to take the pictures of plants they liked and trot off to the nurseries looking for them! They went to the nurseries (every day) and brought back more plants and work for us to do! I think they got a pot fettish, because all the new plants were going in new big pots! Green ones, blue ones, purple ones!

One of the Green Pots

Everyday more pots would be brought in, not the plastic kind, oh no, they had to be big, and heavy, and frost proof too! Do you know how much time it took to get all those pots planted? We heaved and ho-ed, big bags full of Miracle Grow into those pots, not an easy task for the likes of us! Then we had to move the planted pots here and there to get just the right amount of light with their best side showing!

Plenty of BIG Pots

Voila! The Planted Pots with Snow and Summer Jasmine in the Front Cottage Garden

The Hidcote Blue Lavender

The New Foxtail Ferns

First Lady Speedwell (Planted in the Ground)

Jazz Hands Chinese Fringe Flower

Chenille on the Sitting Porch

Dwarf Lime Spirea

Snow and Summer Jasmine

A fairy’s work is never done! We met up every night at dusk at the trellis. Minerva from the Woodland Garden and me from the Cottage Garden would decide what would be completed next. Plus we had all the weeding to do to make up being gone from the garden almost a month! In the meantime Cady and friends just sat on the sitting porch or the sleeping porch and ignored us, while admiring all our work! What about all those gardens in the UK? We want to read all about our new friends and see if you can spot us in the gardens! She needs to get a move on!

We may have to re-think going on a tour of the gardens again. We have been working every night and even in the day, (Yikes, we get so little rest now) and we are exhausted! But, we thought we should let you know what has been going on here and our big dilemma! Too Much Work! Hopefully Cady will read this and know we have found our way into the cottage (with the help of Bella, but don’t tell Cady or Bella may not get any more treats)

Bella

We now can post on her blog! That may get her moving!

Till next time! Posting has been daring and fun so we may try this again!

Minerva Woodland and Flora Cottage, fairies at The End Cottage.

IPhriday Photo Challenge: Pictures Please; The Changes on the Porch

The White Wicker Porch

The New Black Wicker Porch

I am always yapping! Sometimes when I look at blogger’s photos I think, I have that same so-and so! Then I just HAVE to tell the blogger, “hey I have the same thing!” Well that happened to me this week with some wicker porch furniture. The response is always the same. Pictures Please! Well I have not figured out how to send photos in a reply message. If anyone out there can tell me how to do this please let me know! So Lisa, here is the porch wicker set, just like yours! The white set went to my upper porch and the green is now on my lower porch. I think the white looks so romantic, but it was showing wear and tear, because we sit out on the porch so much, so upstairs it went!

Here is also one of my zinc galvanized buckets, which Lisa also collects, in my Woodland Garden. I have also used it to put a small Christmas tree in at Christmas time and brought it inside.

The Zinc Fern Pot in the Woodland Garden

The Zinc Fern Pot in My Woodland Garden

Now, I just have to show my teapot collection to the gal who wanted to see my teapots. AND my cookbook collection to the blogger who wanted to see my cookbooks. AND my poster that I carried all over Ireland to bring home to my poster collection, that was exactly the same poster as another bloggers! I will never be done! I think I’ll keep my mouth shut for awhile!

I hope you enjoyed my porch and garden today! Get out there and see what’s going on in your neighborhood and post it for the IPhriday Photo Challenge! All photos were taken with my IPhone!

In the Garden: Fuchsia

Fuchsia

Fuchsia Painted in Waterlogue App

One of my favorite flowers!

IPhriday Photo Challenge: My Cottage Garden

My Cottage Garden at End of April

Today as I look at my garden I dream of an idea that I have seen and would love to do in my Woodland Garden! What do you think?

The Stone Circle

I hope you enjoyed our walk in the garden today! Get out there and see what’s going on in your neighborhood and post it for the IPhriday Photo Challenge! All photos were done with my IPhone!

Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Yellow Green

Muckross House Garden, Killarney, Ireland

Muckross House, Killarnry, Ireland

Muckross Gardeners Cottage, Killarney, Ireland

View of Killarney National Park, Killarney, Ireland

There is every shade of green in Ireland, so today I am going to share Muckross House with you! These are some of my favorite pictures of Yellow Green!

The sixty five roomed, Muckross Mansion, built in Tudor Style, was designed by Scottish architect, William Burn, and completed in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolorist, Mary Balfour. Mary met Henry in Rome and married him in September, 1837. The estate was given to her, by her grandparents, for a wedding present. She loved the grounds, as it reminded her of the family home in Scotland. She brought a large dowry to the marriage equivalent to 3.28 million pounds in 2016, and she and Henry used part of this money to start construction on the house in 1839. She then worked at developing her talents as a watercolor artist, and with no formal training or formal art education, she displayed considerable skill.

Less than twenty years later, in preparation for a visit from Queen Victoria in 1861, extensive improvements to the house and contents, were made for the Queen’s visit. Tapestries, mirrors, Persian carpets, silverware, musical instruments, linen, china and new servants’ uniforms are said to have been specially commissioned for the queen’s visit. Special curtains for the Dining Room were woven in Paris, also to please the Queen.

The Queen’s apartments at Mockross were described by the local press as: “An entire section of apartments has been set aside for the royal family so that they do not need to communicate with the Herbert family when passing through halls. The Queen will live in privacy, and from her rooms can walk onto the delightful grounds, which will be kept private during her stay.” It was clear the Herberts thought the Royal couple and friends would stay awhile.

The Queen, Prince Albert, and two of their children spent two nights there! Little time was spent with the Herbert family and on the last day, Queen Victoria took a carriage ride around the grounds with the Mrs. and then Queen Victoria and entourage went to the train to go elsewhere. As a farewell gift Mary gave the Queen two of her paintings of the landscape at Muckross.

Moral of the story: never re-do your house to please someone else. If they want to come, they can come as you are. Don’t live above your means.

The restorations resulted in huge financial difficulties for the Herbert family, which resulted in the sale of the mansion and the 11,000 acre estate.

Henry died in 1866, (he probably never fathomed being in debt), and Mary with two of her daughters moved back to England, where she lived until 1871, and then moved to Lake Como, Italy, to continue her artwork. She died in London in 1893 and was buried next to her husband in the family vault near the Muckross estate.

In 1899 the estate was bought by Arthur Guinness, who wanted to preserve the landscape.

In 1911, the house and estate were sold to William Bowers Bourn, a wealthy Californian involved in mining. He and his wife passed the estate to their daughter, Maud and her husband Arthur Rose Vincent, as a wedding present. The couple lived there until the death of Maud in 1929. In 1932, her parents and her husband decided to give Muckross House and the 11,00 acre estate to the Irish people and it became the first National Park in the Republic of Ireland. The house and grounds are now part of Killarney National Park.

Yellow Green has been in the Crayola Collection since 1930. It is also known as Monster Green in the “Halloween Crayons” series. The Muckross House and estate turned out to be the green-eyed monster for the Herbert family, but a windfall for the people of Ireland!

This post is just one of many in the Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola Challenge!

Check out some of the other 150+ challenge participants, it’s amazing what we have done with the Crayola colors!

Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Vivid Violet

Vivid Violet Flowers at Charleston House, UK

Vivid Violet at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, Kent, UK

Vivid Violet Flowers at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, Kent, UK

Vivid Violet was added to the Crayola line in 1997. It is Day 112 of the Crayola Challenge and I have presented more beautiful flowers from the gardens in the UK. I thought perhaps my flowers were not quite vivid enough. But, I came across this Vivid Violet also.

Vivid Arene Violet

Arlene Violet, a real life Vivid Violet, was born into a middle class family in Providence, Rhode Island. After attending Providence College, she entered the Sisters of Mercy convent in 1961, taking her final vows in 1969. Later Violet earned a bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University and was a school teacher in a disadvantaged neighborhood during the 1970’s. She became interested in law and graduated from Boston College Law School in 1974. She then clerked in the judge’s chambers and did an internship in the Rhode Island General Attorney’s office. When the convent had financial difficulties she left her legal work and returned to the convent, serving as an administrative nun into the 1980’s. In 1984, Violet ran for election and won, becoming the first female Attorney General in the United States. During her term in office she focused on organized crime, environmental issues and victim’s rights. One of her innovations was to use videotape interviews of child victims rather than direct testimony. In the courtroom, she was known as Attila the Nun! After leaving office, Violet returned to prosecuting, taught environmental law at Brown University, and ran a talk show from 1990 to 2006. She has written two books, Convictions: My Journey from the Convent to the Courtroom, and Me and the Mob, a book about the witness protection program. As you can tell, Violet was no shrinking Violet!

This post is just one of many in the Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola Challenge!

Check out some of the other 150+ challenge participants, it’s amazing what we have done with the Crayola colors!

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Travel, Gardens, Food, Photography, Books, Shoes

Posts from the ‘Gardens’ category

Thursday Doors at Tintinhull

The Gardens at Stourhead, a National Trust Property

Thursday’s Doors, Stourhead

The Hoare House, aka Stourhead, a National Trust Estate

In the Garden: Fuchsia

IPhriday Photo Challenge: My Cottage Garden

Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Yellow Green

Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Vivid Violet

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