MANSFIELD MEMORIAL PLAN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 761, 19 February 1954, Page 7

MANSFIELD MEMORIAL PLAN

AST October The Listener described a plan whereby French and New Zealand admirers. of Katherine Mansfield had joined forces to provide a memorial garden to her in the grounds of the Villa Isola-Bella at Menton, on the French Riviera. The grounds were to be planted with New Zealand shrubs and trees, but the villa itself was in such disrepair that it’ was expected to be pulled down. Latest reports from France now indicate that the villa is being renovated and, as well as the garden, will-be preserved to make a more satisfying memorial. This marks a return to the original plan, as it was worked out by a local resident, J. L. Francois-Primo, and caried’ through By a local committee which raised funds. An additional £80 was contributed by the New Zealand Centre of the P.E.N., and £200 by the’ New Zealand Government,

The villa will presumably be looked after by the municipality of Menton, which had agreed to preserve the grounds and garden in good order. Manuka, toi-toi, karaka and lace-bark were some of the trees and shrubs expected to be planted there. The villa is’ ‘situated just above the railway lines, and was originally of orange stucco. It can be identified by a white marble plaque which was fixed to the wall in 1939 at M. Francois-Primo’s urging, and which carries the inscription: "Katherine Mansfield, 1888-1923." Katherine -Mansfield lived at the Villa Isola-Bella during the winter of 1920-21 with her friend Ida Baker. Though she was then in an advanced stage of the tuberculosis from which she died, it was here that she wrote "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" and five other stories in her volume The Garden Party.