Tolkien's House To Be Flattened

[Lalwendë]

Some sad news from someone on my F-list on my blog:

http://www.thisisdorset.net/display...._flattened.php

Alas, it's a fait accompli now as full planning permission has been given. If you want to go and see the house at Branksome Chine, I'd go within the next couple of weeks, pronto.

[littlemanpoet]

Phew! ::Elempi wipes brow:: You had me worried. At first I thought you were talking about the house of Northmoor road in Oxford with the plaque right there on the front of the house. At least that one will stay up for now. In fact, back in September of 2005 it looked like some bit of upkeep work was being done on it. Still, I suppose it's a shame for the retirement home to be demolished. However, Tollers himself never really liked it much there, according to the late Mr. Carpenter.

[Lalwendë]

I vote for sending Mithalwen over to stage a house-saving demo

The one at Northmoor Road surprised me when I was there last year - it sold for a BIG amount (it would, in North Oxford) but the owner was just an ordinary pensioner, pottering around in the garage with his second hand VW car. The trellis around the top of the garden fence is shabby looking, but that is in fact the original trellis put up by Tolkien himself!

[Mithalwen]

I am really not surprised ... sadly around here land prices are too high for it to be just too attractive for developers to buy single dwellings on good sized plots and whack a load of flats on them. However my giref is controllable in this case as it was not an attractive building - though I am sure that the convenience of a modern single story dewlling was a boon for the arthritic Edith.

While it backs onto Branksome chine which is a mini Rivendell and is very close to the sea, I would not want to live there even if I had the money. While Tolkien was clearly quite spritely up to the end (going on the Carpenter description of how he walked into the town centre from the Miramar a few days before he fell ill - that is a fair and steepish walk, though Carpenter may have meant the Lansdowne shopping area which is a lot nearer) there are no amenities near Lakeside Road save the Lido and again there are a lot of gradients.

Really it was an odd choice for a non driver and Given that there are many locations in the vicinity just as picturesque and more convenient - and a great deal cheaper - I can only assume that the exclusive nature of Canford Cliffs where - lots of money and "new" money bought a certain amount of welcome anonymity which you wouldn't get in a village or district with any sense of community.

However the fact that it is now in the hands of a developer means I feel I can go an take photos now with a clear conscience.

[Mithalwen]

It so happened that I had to go to see my agency htis afternoon and once through I decided to go to Westbourne and made a detour to Lakeside road the house is flattened but the replacements have not been started. And so I have a tiny fragment of Tolkien's garden wall in my glove box...

[Groin Redbeard]

My goodness! I was almost hysterical when I read that. It's sad that we don't have enough people in the world who appreciate history, or great men like Tolkien.

[Mithalwen]

I do have to say that it was an extremely ugly house and Tolkien wrote no major work there. It would have been a relatively new build when they moved in. I didn't take any pictures of it when it was standing out of respect for the privacy of the then residents so I can't show you how ugly it was but I assure you that his legacy is not reduced by it's absence. It is about half a mile from Sandbanks which is the most expensive real estate area in the country where they are tearing down five year old houses because they aren't quite what their Russian oligarch owners want so unless it had outstanding architectural merit it was doomed. Lakeside Road isn't quite in that league but I expect the developers will make nigh on a million even in the current climate.

What remains and might make you feel a closeness to Tolkien is the location. It backs on to Branksome Chine which is a steep wooded gully running down to the sea and is quite lovely. If I find my pictures I will scan them in. There are fantastic views of the sea from the end of the road.

[Lalwendë]

Some more stuff about it, including a bit about the postcard found down the back of the fire (and the laughably large sums the demolition man expects for the fireplace and postcard - is he mad????), and pictures of the now ex-bungalow. The lawn was very nice, I bet that's been churned up now

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/dmiller/PC000026.htm

[Mithalwen]

The back lawn looked ok and the shed was still standing. Will save on landscaping . That expalians wh I was able to get the chunk of wall - it was from where they hacked out the name - I just assumed a lorry had clipped it!

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

The back lawn looked ok and the shed was still standing. Will save on landscaping . That expalians wh I was able to get the chunk of wall - it was from where they hacked out the name - I just assumed a lorry had clipped it!

I bet they've even put the name stone up for sale on eBay.

Anyway, good about the lawn - I've currently got the 'ump on about the evils of turf farming.

[Mithalwen]

I suppose the good thing is that it is just the two house and not a huge clump of flats and they may well not be able to build too close to the back fence which runs along the chine - I believe th Tolkiens had a private gate. So thjey may as well leave alone a well tended mature garden as much as possible and merely divide it.

[Lalwendë]

Don't think I'd be too keen to build too close to the edge of a ravine on the Jurassic coast either

[Mithalwen]

But as ravines go eet ees vairy small ees waffer thin.... and it is on a rocky bit.. not like us with our famous and eroding clay

[Mithalwen]

My whimsy took me to Westbourne this morning and it being fine and having a camera to hand I thought I'd go and take a look at the house that may be named Tolkien. The only progress is that there is a huge hoarding blocking view of the site announcing that the development of the two 3/4 bedroom energy efficient houses will be completed in 2010!!! Real sign of the times that... Odd thing is it also said that kitchen/living room would have garden access .. I do hope that means the kitchen and livingrooms. since these houses will sell for around the million mark I would hope they would run to a separate kitchen!

[Mithalwen]

Having an illustrious Downer as a houseguest the past few days, an excursion was made to the site of Tolkien's retirement home in Branksome. The replacement houses have been built, and aren't bad as such things go.. though they are very close together... but they have been named not Tolkien but Beren House and Luthien House...

[Galadriel55]

Awwwww!... That's so ridiculously touching to name them Beren and Luthien! I think Tolkien would have understood and appreciated such a choice of names.

[Mithalwen]

Better perhaps than Smeagol and Deagol.... that could cause all sorts of problems.

[Bêthberry]

As a foreign visitor I may be granted a tad more leeway in terms of invading privacy, so I shall show a picture of the two town houses, Luthien House (on the left) and Beren House (on the right), with grateful thanks to my wonderful hostess for not sending me out of the car into the rain to take the picture.



Other pictures forthcoming and a short description of our Mini-moot of South Farthing and my stay with Mithalwen on the appropriate thread.