Over on Inhabitat, I read today that the Garden History Museum in London got a makeover. It is such a remarkable change that I hardly recognized it. I wanted to show you the stark difference between the before and after, but hunting through all my old shots — I know I had some from visits there when I was a student — I just can’t find them.
These are the pictures of the upgrade, which makes me really wonder… where is all the stuff?…my memory is that it was a bit like a curiosities shop of garden artifacts…but this new space is positively sparse. Maybe they haven’t moved back in yet?
I did find this one picture that I took at the museum. I was inspired by this planter; I thought it was so nice and though it was a prized antique, I think it would be easy to make something more modern and interesting with the same idea of tiles on the side of a planter box. Now that I pulled this out of my archives, I am all inspired to go and make something like it….
This is a great place to go to while in London. It really is beautiful and interesting.
The renovation is an amazing transformation.
I recall an anecdote about the original museum, which I visited some time ago.
While attending a function of the U.K. garden writers group, I found myself in a queue with the museum’s director at the time. After introductions, I told her I thought the museum was really charming, in my obviously forthright American way. Her response was to quite noticeably bristle. My description apparently taken an insult.