Peeress Who Is Builder

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 992, 7 June 1930, Page 20

Peeress Who Is Builder

Designs Country Homes and Supervises Construction . ..Duty, Not Hobby,” Says Lady Phillimore .... .. ; 1 EERESS and bricklayer, Guilder houses! i-i It may be said literally that Lady PhilliAii more, is fulfilling these varied roles. Not only is she designing houses, but helping in their construction, for she helps to mix the cement, and lay the bricks. Most of her time, indeed, is devoted to the erection of picturesque thatched and whitewashed cottages at West

Wittering, a quiet village near Selsea. Sussex. Her foreman, Mr. Prescott, said to a newspaper representative: “She is an amazing woman. She doesn’t build as a hobby, but rather

as a duty. She thinks that while people are putting up bungalows and tin shacks everywhere somebody ought to try and provide real country homes for real country people. Climbs the Ladders “She bought a large piece of land behind the village called ‘Old Roman Landing,’ and she began to build. She uses local bricks, and quaint old tiles and thatch. She starts work soon after nine every day—she didn’t miss a day last summer.

“She dresses in plain, ordinary clothes, and is an expert builder. She lays bricks herself, and says to me ‘They’ll think I’m AA'inston Churchill.’ “She acts occasionally as a stonemason, she climbs the ladders, walks along the scaffolding and over the rafters, and superintends the building operations just like a man. She even assists with cement work. “She is wonderfully clever in other directions, too. She goes all round Sussex and other places making paintings of quaint old houses. Then she comes back and builds them. “AVe don’t even trouble to call her ‘my lady’ after the first thing in the morning. She jokes with all the men, and she even eats her cold dinner along with them in the summer. If anyone does anything wrong she sees it in a minute. She is on the job all day, rain or shine. “She has built the houses to please herself, and she won’t sell them unless the people fit in exactly with her ideas. Her plan is simply to make an extension to the old village, and she is going to select her buyers very critically. “They must be genuine country people who want to live a quiet country life. No week-enders, townspeople or holiday-makers will be allowed. At present four houses have been completed. “Lord Phillimore comes down to see the work sometimes.”

These are, indeed, homes for poets and artists. The sea fronts the windows; the wall of the Downs and the spire of Chichester are in the background. The nearest station is eight miles away. So far, only one man is in possession as a tenant.