Peppard Cottage revisited.

You may remember my post back in October about Peppard cottage? Here is proof that if you wish for something hard enough it will come true. Over a year ago I posted on here and on some British forums requesting pictures of this house from anyone willing to share. Then my lucky day came. Sean Menzies happened to do a search for Peppard Cottage and found my little blog. Sean had actually been to village where Peppard cottage is. I receive these emails from him. He shared some interesting bit of knowledge about this little English gem.

Hey Derek, I found your blog by doing a search for Peppard Cottage. After having visited the house, I was curious if there were any references to it online OTHER than it having been used in Merchant Ivory's film. Most of it was about the Bloomsbury Set and the film, of course. I did see it used once, a few years ago, in a Mystery on PBS.

I've attached as many of the giant photos of the place I took as I can. It is really a lovely house. I think a one Lynda Rothbarth lives there now, she's a horsewoman. The young caretakers, a couple who live in back, were very nice to me and let me take pictures of the place. I wanted to see if the teeth were still in the chestnut tree, but we ran out of time.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics.

Cheers,

Sean.

I love this shot. It shows a view of the west side of the house that we never see in the movie.

Of course I was absolutely giddy to see these pictures. I wrote him back begging for any other pictures he might have, and permission to post them here. He responded with more pictures and trivia.

Go ahead, Derek, post away! I've attached some others, too. I took a lot but didn't realize until I looked at the pics later that most of them were from the front! I regret not getting a photo of the metal plaque that says "Peppard Cottage" which is affixed to the fencepost next to the gate (the one Emma Thompson barges through in the film to go save Helen). In the film, it has been removed and one can see the rusty square where it usually resides.

The white poles in one of the pics I sent are goal posts, plastic. There were a lot of children's toys in the front yard and I tried to shoot around them. Also of interest is the fact that the owners have kept all the production design put in by Luciana Arrighi. The dining room is still painted red and the acorn wallpaper is still in the front hall, I could see that much through the windows.

I've attached the wider view of the front of the house and the fuzzy pic I took of the chestnut tree. All the foliage had been cut back for the Winter so the wisteria was hacked down and the chestnut tree looks like a stump! It was very cool to go up to the front door and touch the wooden railings and cold iron door handle and to knock on the glass. The atmospheric sounds of the wind and the birds are exactly as they are in the film, which reproduced it accurately. Also, it is surrounded by other houses, which you've seen from the Google shots, and there is a pub, The Red Lion, within walking distance!

Oh and the last pic is of Henley-on-Thames, right down the road. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been, at least in the past couple of years. You walk along the Thames, before it is polluted by London, on a tremendous wooden boardwalk that at one point goes out into the middle of the river then back. Just beautiful. ALSO again: the bluebell wood that Leonard walks through is literally at the bottom of the road; the road, once it goes past the house, drops down drastically into a thick wood the is full of bluebells every May. We were there in March, so it was all damp and moldy.

Enjoy!
Sean

Thanks Sean For sharing these with me... anytime you want to become my out in the field reporter you can have the job.