Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
This from "Vogue" magazine, October 1, 1915
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BEAUTIFUL BROADWAY - IN WORCESTERSHIRE
In Tudor Days a Road of Inns - Now the
Setting of a Cosmopolitan Colony of
Artists and Musicians
Fringed by the purple Cotswold Hills in the country known to all Americans who motor to Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick, lies Broadway in Worcestershire, noted for its beautiful old Tudor Street, its gardens, and its colony of artists.
Situated one hundred miles from London, Broadway has been famous since Charles II's time, when it was the only "changes horses" point for all coaches between Worcester and Town. The village consists of one long generous street, bordered with typical seventeenth century houses and cottages, back of which are walled gardens filled with forgotten Elizabethan flowers and box and yew.
Among the Americans attracted to this out-of-the-world corner is ...Mrs. Frank Millet, whose husband, the delightful artist and man of rare social charm, was lost on the "Titanic" ... she has long made her home at Broadway, in the lovely old "Swann Inn" - a famed coaching inn in the time of Charles II, now known as "Russell House." Mr. and Mrs. Millet were among the charter members of the artist colony at Broadway.
The little Tudor village has fame of later date, for it is rich in Pre-Raphaelite associations. Rosetti, Burne-Jones, Walter Pater, and William Morris used to gather here and discuss ideals in a Norman tower on the Cotswold Hills, plainly visible from the village. Among the Royal Academicians who have felt the charm of this picturesque Enhglish village have been Alma- Tadena, John Sargent... Musicians and writers, too, add their salt to the Broadway community; among them Sir Edward Elgar, Sir James Barrie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
The historic interest of the old "Swan Inn" attaches itself to Mrs. Millet's residence "Russell House." In no place in England perhaps has the spirit of a byegone day been retained with so clever and artistic a development modern comfort and luxury.
(caption for photo 1) "Russell House," the residence of Mrs. Millet, when it was the "Swan Inn" furnished horses for seventeen coaches a day. Built into the high garden wall are small pavilions, known as gazebos, from which to watch the pasersby.
(caption for photo 2) Richly mellowed Jacobean furniture and handsome bits of pewter furnish the Millet dining room where gathered convivial parties of Restoration days.
(caption for photo 3)In this quaint corner of the garden, which passing centuries have left unchanged, are moss-grown stone steps and from the broken flagging grow gorgeous hollyhocks.
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For those of us who love the story of "Titanic" and her people, "Russell House" holds an extra special interest. Hopefully someone can determine whether this place is still standing and if so if it is a private house or a public place. It would be a point of interest for Titanic buffs. I know I'd like to see the garden where Millet must have painted.
I am sending the great photos from this article to Philip Hind so that all may be able to view them. The images are quite clear and the one of the dining room with its wide windows full of light is especialy poignant. The house is ivy-clad all round and looks as though it is tucked into a painting itself, it is so perfectly situated.
Randy
_________________________________________________
BEAUTIFUL BROADWAY - IN WORCESTERSHIRE
In Tudor Days a Road of Inns - Now the
Setting of a Cosmopolitan Colony of
Artists and Musicians
Fringed by the purple Cotswold Hills in the country known to all Americans who motor to Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick, lies Broadway in Worcestershire, noted for its beautiful old Tudor Street, its gardens, and its colony of artists.
Situated one hundred miles from London, Broadway has been famous since Charles II's time, when it was the only "changes horses" point for all coaches between Worcester and Town. The village consists of one long generous street, bordered with typical seventeenth century houses and cottages, back of which are walled gardens filled with forgotten Elizabethan flowers and box and yew.
Among the Americans attracted to this out-of-the-world corner is ...Mrs. Frank Millet, whose husband, the delightful artist and man of rare social charm, was lost on the "Titanic" ... she has long made her home at Broadway, in the lovely old "Swann Inn" - a famed coaching inn in the time of Charles II, now known as "Russell House." Mr. and Mrs. Millet were among the charter members of the artist colony at Broadway.
The little Tudor village has fame of later date, for it is rich in Pre-Raphaelite associations. Rosetti, Burne-Jones, Walter Pater, and William Morris used to gather here and discuss ideals in a Norman tower on the Cotswold Hills, plainly visible from the village. Among the Royal Academicians who have felt the charm of this picturesque Enhglish village have been Alma- Tadena, John Sargent... Musicians and writers, too, add their salt to the Broadway community; among them Sir Edward Elgar, Sir James Barrie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
The historic interest of the old "Swan Inn" attaches itself to Mrs. Millet's residence "Russell House." In no place in England perhaps has the spirit of a byegone day been retained with so clever and artistic a development modern comfort and luxury.
(caption for photo 1) "Russell House," the residence of Mrs. Millet, when it was the "Swan Inn" furnished horses for seventeen coaches a day. Built into the high garden wall are small pavilions, known as gazebos, from which to watch the pasersby.
(caption for photo 2) Richly mellowed Jacobean furniture and handsome bits of pewter furnish the Millet dining room where gathered convivial parties of Restoration days.
(caption for photo 3)In this quaint corner of the garden, which passing centuries have left unchanged, are moss-grown stone steps and from the broken flagging grow gorgeous hollyhocks.
_________________________________________________
For those of us who love the story of "Titanic" and her people, "Russell House" holds an extra special interest. Hopefully someone can determine whether this place is still standing and if so if it is a private house or a public place. It would be a point of interest for Titanic buffs. I know I'd like to see the garden where Millet must have painted.
I am sending the great photos from this article to Philip Hind so that all may be able to view them. The images are quite clear and the one of the dining room with its wide windows full of light is especialy poignant. The house is ivy-clad all round and looks as though it is tucked into a painting itself, it is so perfectly situated.
Randy