Last Thursday we visited the home of the late George Bernard Shaw
not our first visit but I always find there are things one misses
first time around
For the uninitiated, he was a famous Irish playwright
The house was built in 1902 and he lived there for more than 40 years.
The house is much as he left it with his clothes in the wardrobe,
typewriter, glasses and dictionary in the study
and a collection of his hats in the hall
as well as his 1930 Oscar for Pygmalion
which was later turned into the musical My Fair Lady
I hope you will enjoy your visit with me today
Down narrow country lanes to get thereRabbits running across but too quick to photo them
and it's beginning to rain
The front of the house
The back
Photographs not allowed inside
so I was reprimanded when I snapped the kitchen
The garden
His writing hut at the bottom of the garden
The garden
His writing hut at the bottom of the gardenso that he would not be disturbed
which swivelled round for the best use of the light
Looking through the window
And a day bed
Looking through the window
He had electricity in the hut
which was more than we had in many homes in those days
And a day bed
22 comments:
I have just recently started reading your blog and I love it. I visited London about 38 years ago and I hope to someday get back to England. Your site is wonderful. I enjoyed this tour today. I'm a nearly 59 year old nana and it seems as though we have much in common. You have a friend here in Atlanta, Georgia.
Well that writing hut on a swivel is terribly impressive. I can imagine that a whole lot of us would like one just like it.
The home is beautiful; the gardens are exquisite; and you are brave to be breaking the rules!
Did you have a good vacation?
I have to return to comment on how amazingly that bush (???) complements the trim of the house in "The Garden" photo. It's really lovely!
I went there many years ago and really enjoyed it. I do miss the National Trust properties!
That was a wonderful tour! Thank you so much for sharing all the details. I really enjoyed the tour and might have to add it to my 'things to see and do' if I go to England in the Fall.
You continue to inspire!
Thank you!
Joanne in Ontario
Oh Barbara...you take us to such lovely places and make me want to travel to England on the first flight out! Were I to have my dream vacation, it would be to travel to your homeland. It is just magnificent! What a beautiful home...one can only imagine living is such a place. I watched Cranford on PBS last night and found myself longing for such times and lovely places...Thank you for such a wonderful post..
What a fascinating visit. I'd love to go there. GBS is one of my favourite authors.
Delightful post. It is so nice to see places that we have never visited. Looks like the trees were all blooming too. Great time to visit.
What an amazing home and garden, thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed your visit ha ha ha!
Maddy
www.madelinedunster.com
Very cool pictures! I really enjoyed this tour. Don't you just hate it when they reprimand you? :-) (Been there...done that!)
I fixed the picture on my blog and now you CAN enlarge it (along with the new ones).
Vanessa
Very interesting! The hut was tres moderne for the 1930s.
I love going on these little trips with you. What a beautiful house.
Barbara,
What a treat! I enjoyed the visit and comments....
So many interesting places to visit in your area....
Thanks for visiting with my granddaughters...new bloggers need encouragement....Betty
I absolutely love George Bernard Shaw! What a gorgeous home. I am so envious of your tour!
You have a lovely blog! I must come again soon for a visit! :)
Hi Barbara,
What a great tour! The grounds look so beautiful and well kept!
xo
Most interesting...I wonder why they have that no-photo rule...did they give a reason at all?
The swivel hut is terribly ingenious...although why not just install windows on all sides to get light at all hours?
Haven't read Shaw since high school.....although there is an annual Shaw festival not too far from where I live.
Well, since there are pics of the trees, I cannot even see the house!!! Are those magnolias? I know they should be blooming right now......missing the season! How beautiful....
What a fun tour. Interesting to see where he wrote, the swivel hut, how intriguing.
I must comment about the "not being able to take photo's inside" I don't get it really...I was amazed when they let me take pictures in Louver in Paris of everything but the Mona Lisa. That I could have understood. But what is the problem in a house?
I have to confess to making a big mistake at the Tower of London. I had no idea, after my lovely photo taking in Paris that other places had such rules. Sooooooo when we were the first in line to get on that little conveyer belt to see the Royal Jewels, and it was very dark inside. I just was snapping away...before I realized there were signs forbidding it...big no no. I guess I can understand the rules a little bit more with the Royal Jewels and all. But George Bernard Shaw’s kitchen…?
Mr Shaw not only had electricity in his writing hut, he also had a wonderful garden, according to your photos. I wonder whether he was gardeing himself....
I really enjoyed your tour of "George Bernard Shaw's" home this evening. Beautiful grounds and gardens, stunning house, fun to see the kitchen inside too.
My husband and I really like taking tours of old historical homes. So far, we have only been to some in the States, maybe some day we'll see some in England too!
Dear Barbara,
I enjoyed your visit to GBS's home very much. I remember seeing "My Fair Lady" in Vienna when I was 11 or 12 years old... "Es grünt so grün wenn Spanien's Blüten blühn..." is a common jaw crasher here in Austria. Funny, GBS's writing hut...
I also remember the narrow lanes when driving along the South coast of England once. You don't see ANYTHING at all, and there was also a lot of rain... :)
I love your previous post on the book about Wild Swimming, too. Interesting subject! I am extremely fond of swimming, but it is not so easy to find wild places in the neighbourhood of a city, for instance. The places in this book are extremely romantic! It brings back memories of summer 2001 when my husband and I travelled through Greece by car, and we crossed a little river running in a canyon. We noticed the river only when we crossed its bridge. I took a swim in the emerald-green cool water - what a delight after sitting in the car for hours in the summer heat of Greece...
It is always nice to visit your blog and I will come back again!
Best regards from Vienna,
Maria
What a brilliant idea a revolving room to accommodate good natural lighting. A phone? That was a little surprising. These posts make me want to not only visit England, all the more, but do a tour of National Trusts while there.
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