Travel by Design
Beatrix Potter: A Place of Her Own
See the farm that inspired the beloved author to cultivate an independent life and write some of her most famous works
Movie posters for the new comedy adaptation of Peter Rabbit have the tag line “Rascal. Rebel. Rabbit.” Peter’s original creator, Beatrix Potter, was something of a rebel herself. And it showed up in her garden.
On a November day in 1905, a 39-year-old Potter inked the deed for the purchase of her first piece of real estate, Hill Top Farm, a 34-acre working farm in England’s Lake District.
It was a sad-happy time for her. By many measures, she was independent, mostly through increasing royalties from her successful children’s stories. Since 1902, Potter had released a huge bestseller — The Tale of Peter Rabbit — and six other little books that she had written and illustrated for publisher Frederick Warne & Co. But in other ways, her options had been limited.
On a November day in 1905, a 39-year-old Potter inked the deed for the purchase of her first piece of real estate, Hill Top Farm, a 34-acre working farm in England’s Lake District.
It was a sad-happy time for her. By many measures, she was independent, mostly through increasing royalties from her successful children’s stories. Since 1902, Potter had released a huge bestseller — The Tale of Peter Rabbit — and six other little books that she had written and illustrated for publisher Frederick Warne & Co. But in other ways, her options had been limited.
The young Potter poses with one of her governesses, Miss Davidson, circa 1876. Photo from The Beatrix Potter Society
Before she acquired the farm, Potter lived full time with her wealthy parents in a large, well-staffed house in Kensington, the posh London neighborhood. Her younger brother, Bertram, was sent to public school and university, but the shy, introverted Potter was educated at home, as was customary for girls. Her parents engaged a series of qualified governesses and sent her to a South Kensington art school and to private lessons at the home of an oil painting instructor.
Young women of her social class and generation, even those who earned a substantial income of their own, did not move out of the parental abode until after marriage. And when she was 39, just before she bought the farm, marriage was yanked out of Potter’s grasp.
Before she acquired the farm, Potter lived full time with her wealthy parents in a large, well-staffed house in Kensington, the posh London neighborhood. Her younger brother, Bertram, was sent to public school and university, but the shy, introverted Potter was educated at home, as was customary for girls. Her parents engaged a series of qualified governesses and sent her to a South Kensington art school and to private lessons at the home of an oil painting instructor.
Young women of her social class and generation, even those who earned a substantial income of their own, did not move out of the parental abode until after marriage. And when she was 39, just before she bought the farm, marriage was yanked out of Potter’s grasp.
Potter is pictured circa 1899, about six years before she acquired Hill Top Farm. Photo from The Beatrix Potter Society
Potter and her editor, Norman Warne, had fallen in love. On July 25, 1905, just four months before she closed on Hill Top Farm, she accepted his proposal of marriage, despite her parents’ objections. (He, after all, worked for a living.) A month later, before they could be married, Warne died of a sudden, virulent case of leukemia.
So a house that she might have envisioned as a vacation home for a newly wed Mr. and Mrs. Warne was to be for her alone.
Potter and her editor, Norman Warne, had fallen in love. On July 25, 1905, just four months before she closed on Hill Top Farm, she accepted his proposal of marriage, despite her parents’ objections. (He, after all, worked for a living.) A month later, before they could be married, Warne died of a sudden, virulent case of leukemia.
So a house that she might have envisioned as a vacation home for a newly wed Mr. and Mrs. Warne was to be for her alone.
Hill Top Farm and the village of Near Sawrey are surrounded by the unspoiled Cumbrian countryside Potter loved. Hill Top’s farmhouse can be seen behind the trees on the far left, and its field lies in the foreground. Photo by Dayve Ward of Figment Photography
Despite everything, she loved Hill Top Farm, including the location. It was nestled in the rolling hills of Near Sawrey, in England’s northern region of Cumbria. She had visited the area with her family many times, including on a trip to Near Sawrey in summer 1896. At the time she described the village in her journal as “nearly as perfect a little place as I ever lived.”
Despite everything, she loved Hill Top Farm, including the location. It was nestled in the rolling hills of Near Sawrey, in England’s northern region of Cumbria. She had visited the area with her family many times, including on a trip to Near Sawrey in summer 1896. At the time she described the village in her journal as “nearly as perfect a little place as I ever lived.”
Here is a plan of the heart of Hill Top Farm after renovations. Tower Banks Arms is the neighborhood pub that shares a garden wall with Hill Top. (Click the photo for an enlarged view.) Drawing by Yolanda V. Fundora
The solitary Miss Potter busied herself with improvement projects, first hiring builders to add a new wing to the 17th-century house. That would do for the Cannon family, tenants who were staying on to run the day-to-day operations of the farm, tending the crops and the livestock. The garden, though, was Potter’s best consolation.
“My news is all gardening at present,” she wrote to Warne’s sister, Millie. Potter decided to move the driveway and create a long entry garden leading up to the front door of the house. She hired masons to make beds, put in a long flagstone walk and repair the walls. An artisan blacksmith forged decorative iron gates for the walled kitchen garden. She painted them a bright spring green. Carpenters installed a substantial wooden trellis to divide the long entry garden and give height to her design.
The solitary Miss Potter busied herself with improvement projects, first hiring builders to add a new wing to the 17th-century house. That would do for the Cannon family, tenants who were staying on to run the day-to-day operations of the farm, tending the crops and the livestock. The garden, though, was Potter’s best consolation.
“My news is all gardening at present,” she wrote to Warne’s sister, Millie. Potter decided to move the driveway and create a long entry garden leading up to the front door of the house. She hired masons to make beds, put in a long flagstone walk and repair the walls. An artisan blacksmith forged decorative iron gates for the walled kitchen garden. She painted them a bright spring green. Carpenters installed a substantial wooden trellis to divide the long entry garden and give height to her design.
Potter planted an overflowing cottage garden in front of her new home.
She bought plants at the local nursery. Her cousin Edith sent a box of perennials, and neighbors stopped by with plant donations. Potter knew what she wanted. If she called on someone known as a gardener, she would go prepared. “I went to see an old lady at Windermere and impudently took a large basket and trowel with me,” she told Millie Warne. “I got nice things in handfuls with no shame.” She later confessed that “stolen plants always grow.”
The garden worked its magic. Her mood improved. Sometimes she gardened “violently” instead of working on the paintings for her next book. Gardening healed. “There’s nothing like open air for soothing present anxiety and memories of past sadness,” she later wrote.
She bought plants at the local nursery. Her cousin Edith sent a box of perennials, and neighbors stopped by with plant donations. Potter knew what she wanted. If she called on someone known as a gardener, she would go prepared. “I went to see an old lady at Windermere and impudently took a large basket and trowel with me,” she told Millie Warne. “I got nice things in handfuls with no shame.” She later confessed that “stolen plants always grow.”
The garden worked its magic. Her mood improved. Sometimes she gardened “violently” instead of working on the paintings for her next book. Gardening healed. “There’s nothing like open air for soothing present anxiety and memories of past sadness,” she later wrote.
Tom Kitten and his sisters are dressed in their finery in the Hill Top garden at the beginning of “The Tale of Tom Kitten,” published in 1907.
Her garden made appearances in her next little book, The Tale of Tom Kitten, which features illustrations of the walls, trellis, the long walk and the facade of the house, which we also see in the next photo. Many flowers bloom in her miniature watercolors — pansies, pinks, roses, clematises, peonies and more.
Her garden made appearances in her next little book, The Tale of Tom Kitten, which features illustrations of the walls, trellis, the long walk and the facade of the house, which we also see in the next photo. Many flowers bloom in her miniature watercolors — pansies, pinks, roses, clematises, peonies and more.
Tom Kitten and his sisters in Hill Top garden after they’ve lost their clothes at the end of the story.
Potter turned the entrance of her house into a cottage garden, burgeoning with flowers. It was unlike the prim and tidy Victorian beds that she had known in her London youth. At Hill Top Farm, climbing roses clambered up and cascaded down. Loose swaths of perennials and annuals surrounded shrubs like lilac, flowering quince and currant.
And Potter was not especially particular about maintenance. “My garden is a case of the survival of the fittest,” she said in a letter to her cousin Caroline, “always very full of flowers and weeds.” Snowdrops and pansies, daffodils and peonies, honesty and bellflowers, phloxes and chrysanthemums bloomed in succession. It was “regular old fashioned farm garden,” as she called it in a later letter.
Potter turned the entrance of her house into a cottage garden, burgeoning with flowers. It was unlike the prim and tidy Victorian beds that she had known in her London youth. At Hill Top Farm, climbing roses clambered up and cascaded down. Loose swaths of perennials and annuals surrounded shrubs like lilac, flowering quince and currant.
And Potter was not especially particular about maintenance. “My garden is a case of the survival of the fittest,” she said in a letter to her cousin Caroline, “always very full of flowers and weeds.” Snowdrops and pansies, daffodils and peonies, honesty and bellflowers, phloxes and chrysanthemums bloomed in succession. It was “regular old fashioned farm garden,” as she called it in a later letter.
In addition to the long entrance garden, Potter worked in the walled kitchen garden, which had an ornamental green gate. There was plenty of space for rhubarb and other vegetables and perennial plants. The walls provided some protection for the cold winters of the Lake District.
Potter tended the orchard near the kitchen garden, feeding the old fruit trees with compost tea, which she called “liquid manure.” The apples were, in her words, “good cookers.”
Potter tended the orchard near the kitchen garden, feeding the old fruit trees with compost tea, which she called “liquid manure.” The apples were, in her words, “good cookers.”
Snowdrops grow in Hill Top’s garden. Photo by Dayve Ward of Figment Photography
In 1913, Potter married William Heelis, the solicitor who had helped her over the years with property transactions. (When nearby farms came on the market, she had bought them too.)
They moved to Near Sawrey permanently, into Castle Cottage — across the road from Hill Top — on another of her farms. They added a wing and modern conveniences to “the Castle,” and she planted there too. But she kept Hill Top, and its garden, as her special place.
In 1913, Potter married William Heelis, the solicitor who had helped her over the years with property transactions. (When nearby farms came on the market, she had bought them too.)
They moved to Near Sawrey permanently, into Castle Cottage — across the road from Hill Top — on another of her farms. They added a wing and modern conveniences to “the Castle,” and she planted there too. But she kept Hill Top, and its garden, as her special place.
Daffodils still bloom in front of Castle Cottage farmhouse, where Potter moved after her marriage to William Heelis in 1913. Photo by Dayve Ward of Figment Photography
She was happy as Mrs. Heelis. Describing her married life, she quoted Shakespeare to a friend, “Spring came to you at the farthest, in the latter end of the harvest.”
In this new phase of her life, Potter took up the rural life with enthusiasm. Dressed in practical woolen suits, wooden clogs and a big straw hat, she liked to pitch in with the work on her farms. But mostly she managed them. She focused on raising a local heritage breed of sheep, directing crews of shepherds and farmhands. She was elected the first female president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association.
She was happy as Mrs. Heelis. Describing her married life, she quoted Shakespeare to a friend, “Spring came to you at the farthest, in the latter end of the harvest.”
In this new phase of her life, Potter took up the rural life with enthusiasm. Dressed in practical woolen suits, wooden clogs and a big straw hat, she liked to pitch in with the work on her farms. But mostly she managed them. She focused on raising a local heritage breed of sheep, directing crews of shepherds and farmhands. She was elected the first female president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association.
The country mouse, Timmie Willie, is pictured in “The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse,” published in 1918. The garden resembles the one the author cultivated at Castle Cottage.
This year marks the centennial of the publication of Potter’s The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, a retelling of one of Aesop’s fables. Its hero, Johnny, meets a country mouse, Timmie Willie, who was born in a garden that looks suspiciously like Potter’s. The two mice exchange visits.
The story closes with this statement from the author: “One place suits one person, another place suits another person. For my part I prefer to live in the country, like Timmy Willie.”
This year marks the centennial of the publication of Potter’s The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, a retelling of one of Aesop’s fables. Its hero, Johnny, meets a country mouse, Timmie Willie, who was born in a garden that looks suspiciously like Potter’s. The two mice exchange visits.
The story closes with this statement from the author: “One place suits one person, another place suits another person. For my part I prefer to live in the country, like Timmy Willie.”
The country mouse, Timmie Willie, stands in the garden.
Potter underlined her love of the Lake District with a bequest. She died in 1943; her husband died a year and a half later. She left 4,000 acres of preserved farmland to the National Trust in her will. This included Hill Top Farm, with all the art, furnishings and needlework she kept there, and Castle Cottage, where Heelis continued to live until just before his death.
Potter underlined her love of the Lake District with a bequest. She died in 1943; her husband died a year and a half later. She left 4,000 acres of preserved farmland to the National Trust in her will. This included Hill Top Farm, with all the art, furnishings and needlework she kept there, and Castle Cottage, where Heelis continued to live until just before his death.
In the distance, visitors wait for a tour of Hill Top Farm.
Today you can visit Potter’s house and gardens — its long border and walled kitchen garden. The surrounding countryside looks much as it did when she lived there, thanks to the stewardship and generosity of this quiet rebel.
Visit Hill Top Farm: Near Sawrey, Hawkshead, Ambleside, Cumbria, England. Open this year from Feb. 10 to Oct. 28, Monday through Sunday, and only on weekends after that. Admission is about $8.50 (6 pounds) for children and about $17 (12 pounds) for adults. More info
Learn more: The Beatrix Potter Society is a great source of information about the amazing author-illustrator. More info
Note: Houzz contributor Marta McDowell wrote Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, published by Timber Press in 2013. It includes a complete plant list for the plants Potter grew and included in her tales. McDowell is an active member of the Beatrix Potter Society and teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden. Her latest book is The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes That Inspired the Little House Books.
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Today you can visit Potter’s house and gardens — its long border and walled kitchen garden. The surrounding countryside looks much as it did when she lived there, thanks to the stewardship and generosity of this quiet rebel.
Visit Hill Top Farm: Near Sawrey, Hawkshead, Ambleside, Cumbria, England. Open this year from Feb. 10 to Oct. 28, Monday through Sunday, and only on weekends after that. Admission is about $8.50 (6 pounds) for children and about $17 (12 pounds) for adults. More info
Learn more: The Beatrix Potter Society is a great source of information about the amazing author-illustrator. More info
Note: Houzz contributor Marta McDowell wrote Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, published by Timber Press in 2013. It includes a complete plant list for the plants Potter grew and included in her tales. McDowell is an active member of the Beatrix Potter Society and teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden. Her latest book is The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes That Inspired the Little House Books.
More
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Ozarks
Read about noteworthy homes
House at a Glance
Who lived here: Beatrix Potter
Location: Near Sawrey, England
Year completed: The oldest part of the house dates to the 1600s, with changes over time, including sash windows in the 1800s and an addition by Potter in 1906.
That’s interesting: Although Potter used the house from 1906 until her death in 1943, she never lived in it full time. She continued to live in London with her parents but spent holidays at Hill Top Farm until 1913. After that she used it as her studio, as a place to house her collection of antique oak furniture and as lodging for guests. But she always maintained the garden.