Roy and Julia's house and garden to be bequeathed to nation
Roy Strong and his wife Julia Trevelyan Oman created an enchanting garden, the Laskett, which allusively depicts their marriage and the friends they made over three decades. (They eloped when he was 35 and she was 41 because they wanted their wedding to be a private sacrament "unsullied by the hurly-burly of a public wedding".)
Laskett in Herfordshire. Image: Gardens to Visit
Julia died in 2003. Roy, the former director of the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A; and a writer famous for fascinating histories, has just announced he intends to bequeath house and garden to Britain.
Lettuce and Sir Roy
Since Strong is a showman and an expert in art history who loves Renaissance gardens, and Julia was a brilliant set designer who immersed her productions in vivid historical detail, I expect their garden might express these qualities and some mysterious loveliness, and this gallery of pictures suggests that is true.
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