Coleton Fishacre
Coleton Fishacre is a 1920s property that includes an Arts and Crafts Movement style house and 10 acres of gardens. It lies on the English Channel near Kingswear in the county of Devon , England . The property has been owned by the National Trust since 1982 , which opened the garden to the public. The house was opened to visitors in 1999.
The House
The large house of Coleton Fishacre was built between 1923 and 1926 as a country residence for Rupert D'Oyly Carte (1876-1948), son of the theater agent and impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte , and his wife Dorothy Carte (1889-1977). The architect was Oswald Milne , a former assistant to Edwin Lutyen . He planned the house according to the principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The focus was therefore on the simplicity of the design and the high quality of the craftsmanship. The house is built from local slate with a slate roof. The interior of the house, on the other hand , was executed in the Art Deco style of the 1920s. The interior therefore follows a minimalist design that largely dispenses with decorations in the rooms and corridors. The bright rooms with accents of strong colors are typical of the 1920s.
Although initially only built as a country estate, Lady Dorothy lived on the property as her main residence from the late 1920s. In 1932, Michael D'Oyly Carte (1911–1932), the couple's son, had an accident at the age of 21 in a traffic accident in Switzerland. The couple could not get over the early death of their son and divorced in 1941. After the divorce, their daughter Bridget D'Oyly Carte (1908–1985) took over the house. Her father, who was living in London at the time, would occasionally visit for long weekends. After his death in 1949, she sold the house to Rowland Smith, owner of an engine business. This left the property almost unchanged over the next few decades.
The garden
The property's garden is sloping between the house and the ocean by a creek and ends at Pudcombe Cove. The garden was laid out by Dorothy Carte and today features rare and exotic plants that can grow due to the mild Gulf Stream on this part of the Devonian coast. In the 1930s, six gardeners were employed to tend the garden, while four employees took care of the house.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 '48.1 " N , 3 ° 32' 5.2" W.