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slateberry

Old houses in great books--favorites?

slateberry
13 years ago

Have you ever fallen in love with an old house in a book? I'm going to share some of mine and hope others will chime in.

Let's see, I howled (with laughter) my way through Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence.

Then there was the dream house that never got built in Spencer's Mountain (aka the book behind the Waltons). The way that dad would dig the foundation every year but never get further, and lose it every year to the spring rains. My heart. I can relate to that one! I like it that in the series they actually did get the house.

Under the Tuscan Sun--restoring an abandoned Tuscan villa. I loved (and can relate to) the sheer physicality of some of the tasks they took on. And the hot water in the toilet--hee hee!

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier. Manderley--need I say more.

But the house that lives and breathes for me the most, and I hope others will recommend houses like this, is Green Knowe. Lucy Boston's 1000 year old manor house, memorialized in her several books with the house in the title. In Ms. Boston's skillful hands, that house becomes a character and part of the plot of the story. It is not a backdrop but a living participant. I think my favorite is the treasure of Green Knowe, for its exploration of the chimney system of the house, and the way Tolly finds Caxton's old things. Reminds me of times I've poked around in the walls and odd spaces of my own home and found things too.

Do you have a favorite literary house? Please share!

Comments (9)

  • Rudebekia
    13 years ago

    Hawthorne's "The House of Seven Gables" comes to mind, as does Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." I sought out the models for both of these houses on some of my literary trampings. . .

  • lavender_lass
    13 years ago

    I also like "Under the Tuscan Sun" but have always had a soft spot for the home in Mary Stewart's "Thornyhold". Maybe not as well known, as some of the other books, but a charming English country home...originally belonging to the squire's agent...long after the 'main house' had fallen down, due to neglect. Set in the 1940's, a young woman inherits the house and makes it her own...and of course, there's a handsome, witty man who lives nearby :)

    My favorite room in the house is the kitchen, and I did get many ideas for my 'plan' from the story. Other favorite feature are the garden spaces, somewhat overgrown, but still full of herbs and flowers.

  • slateberry
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Those are great suggestions! This is going to become my summer reading list. Now I have a reason to look forward to rain when I'm camping :-).

    Shame on me I live a stone's throw from Salem and I've never visited the house of seven gables. OK, I'm reading, then touring.

    I think I will especially enjoy Thornyhold if there's a garden in it. If you go to the green knowe (The Manor, Hemmingford Grey) website you can see the perennial gardens. Lucy Boston was an avid quilter and gardener. My kind of gal!

    Here is a link that might be useful: c. 1130's english manor house

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    13 years ago

    There's Edith Wharton's "Hudson River Bracketed" which extensively comments upon architecture and planning issues at the turn of the 20th century within a novel form.
    It can be read online at Project Gutenburg.
    Casey

  • shortkatie
    13 years ago

    "The Diamond in the Window" by Jane Langton. It was one of my favorite books as a kid, and it's still great as an adult.

  • macv
    13 years ago

    House, a book by Tracy Kidder about the construction of a Greek Revival house, the first house designed by the now famous architect, William Rawn in '85.

    Here is a link that might be useful: House

  • ammi
    13 years ago

    I, too, loved the Chimneys of Green Knowe. How about the creaking ramshackle family homestead of 'Sometimes a Great Notion?' And Howard's End- not so much because of any one description, but in the spirit of its endearment to the old Mrs Wilcox.

  • lushlife
    13 years ago

    I LOVED Tara Road, I just finished Off Season and LOVED the house and Michael Korda wrote a book called Country Matters about his old farmhouse in Dutchess County....WONDERFUL....oh....and Gladys Tabor wrote a few books about her farm called Stillwater! Great thread!:)

  • flowermum
    13 years ago

    It's not an old book but I read a book entitled The House by Danielle Steele and I completely fell in love with the house as described by the author.

    The book starts verrry slowly, it takes a while to get to the actual house.

    (Just a lil warning in case someone wanted to read it)

    I too loved Rebecca the movie and Manderlay.