Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

for the glowing review! "Go ask Alice ... where all the best vineyard gardens are. She's an erudite charmer; you'll have fun!"

England

Picturesque Gardens of Mapperton .. West Dorset

Mapperton Gardens, Lawn, Topiary Photo © Alice Joyce

The Dorset landscape of Mapperton House and Gardens is especially wondrous on a late-Spring or summertime ramble. Considered to be one of Britain’s outstanding manor houses, Mapperton is distinguished by a warm, honeyed Ham stone facade; hearkening to the Elizabethan era, the architecture was altered to a grander scale in the late 1600s. A highlight of the entrancing grounds is a formal Italianate garden constructed in the 1920s. Presently the family estate of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich, Mapperton gives rise to this Fountain Court of exquisite beauty.

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England

Decidedly Romantic Dorset - Athelhampton House and Gardens

Athelhampton Gardens Photo © Alice Joyce

A formal symmetry distinguishes the landscaped gardens of Athelhampton House in Dorset, where a pervasive warmth bolsters the effects of each enclosed space within a layout enhanced by the mellow patina of aged stone that clothes the garden architecture and the impressive manor house, holding forth within the inviting estate.

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England

Pilgrimage: Virginia Woolf .. Monk's House Gardens

Monk's House Roses Clematis Photo © Alice Joyce

I happened upon an unexpectedly heavenly landscape at Monk’s House. A pleasure garden I could not have imagined on my pilgrimage to Monk’s House, the realization of a long overdue dream to see the 18th century East Sussex country home Virginia Woolf shared with her husband, Leonard – a property now cared for by The National Trust.

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