Post by Dave on Nov 11, 2018 16:31:28 GMT
Coleton Fishacre 11th November 2018
I had originally planned to do a river and woods walk today that would have been really good due to all the rain we have had over the last two days. But I did not want to drive all the way there with the threat of even more rain today.
Anyway Coleton Fishacre was on my list to do this month as free entry was being offered by the National Trust on Sundays during November to TQ post code residents, an offer to good to turn down. The sun came out in between the morning showers and with the possibility of the remaining Sundays left in this month being wet ones, my mind was made up.
This was my second visit to Coleton Fishacre, the first one was about ten years ago and at a different time of the year. It is a beautiful house in a stunning location with wonderful gardens that lead down to the coast path.
The house is not that old really as it was built in 1926 for Sir Rupert D'Oyly Carte who first noticed the site with his wife while sailing between Brixham and Dartmouth and passed pretty Pudcombe Cove. They then set about the task of building a house there under the guidance of their architect, Oswald Milne, an assistant to Sir Edwin Lutyens A road had to be constructed to the house and also a temporary railway to bring the stone up the steep gradient from the cove to build the house. The house is the product of its location - Pudcombe stone was used in its construction.
The garden was originally planted by Lady Dorothy and features rare and exotic plants, some of which are unusual in their ability to grow outside a tropical climate, The Cartes employed a staff of six to maintain the garden, compared with a staff of four to run the house.
Although built as a country home, Lady Dorothy lived in the house as her primary residence; the family was to be devastated when Michael, the only son, died in a car crash in Switzerland at the age of twwnety one. This rapidly led to the couple's separation in 1936 and they ended up sleeping in different parts of the house. . After the Cartes' divorce in 1941, their daughter, Bridget D'Oyly Carte, took over the house, which her father, who lived in London then , would visit for long weekends. She sold the house in 1949, after his death, to Rowland Smith who was the owner of the Palace Hotel in Torquay at that time.
Coleton Fishacre was acquired by the National Trust in 1982 as part of its Project Neptune, with an eye to completing the South West Coast Path in that area. The garden was opened to the public immediately, while the house was let to tenants. The Trust finally opened the house to the public in 1999.
When the National Trust took over the house there was very little left of the original furniture, so most of what you see has been brought in from other properties, or given to the trust. The interior of the house provides a dramatic contrast to the rustic exterior by evoking the Art Deco craze of the 1920s and ’30s.
This is not the grandest house you might find yourself in, but it is a house you could feel very much at home living in. I love the last room in the house you get to see, (last pictures of the inside below) when I was there the last time a gentleman was playing the piano.
A very enjoyable afternoon even if the walk down to the coast path and part away along it is a bit leggy. It stayed dry as well hopefully it its dry tomorrow and I do not get called in by work, I maybe can get to do that woods and river walk.
