However practically important, it’s never the sexiest part of a project to be the person who persuades someone else to put their hand in their pocket. Perhaps that is why Ellen Willmott has not – until now – been officially celebrated at RHS Wisley. Then again, there could be an even more prosaic reason: until…
Category: Summer Houses
Ellen’s summer houses #2: Miss Willmott and Mr Napoleon
There is an intriguing legend that while on holiday in the Alps, a 19 year-old Ellen Willmott bought, on the spot, a Swiss shepherd’s hut from St Bernard Pass / Bourg St Pierre because someone told her Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in it one night during his famous Alp-crossing exercise. The story continues that she had…
Through the Oval Window: Ellen’s Summer Houses #1
Today I’m starting the first in an occasional series on Ellen Willmott’s (many) summer houses. By far the majority of them were in her main garden at Warley Place, which boasted at least eight, but that’s not counting the gazebos her sister Rose had at Warley Lea and Ellen also had a couple of cabins…
Miss Willmott's Ghosts 