INTERVIEW
working so they weren’t living here.
They would come down for Christmas,
Easter, and in the summer and I had
a wonderful time coming down from
London with all my friends. The
family moved permanently in 1970,
and inspired by my mother, we set
about clearing and then creating the
garden.
Although English, my mother was
born in Sicily, so the Mediterranean
was quite an influence, and she
occasionally went to Japan with my
father and she
adored the cherry
blossom of Japan,
so you will also
see a lot of cherry
blossom. I took
on the tenancy of
the house from
the Trust in 1993
with my wife
Martie, and here
we are - still here!
“Last year we
had some 30,000
visitors through
the garden and we had a record
opening day for the house. Mottistone
is a wonderful house with character
and beauty.”
Because it is a family home there
has never been any pressure from the
National Trust to open it more often,
with Sir Charles adding: “It is a house
that we live in, not like a larger house
where you can shut off one piece and
leave another to walk through.
“Occasionally groups of people come
and I do take them through, but as
to a general opening there are a lot
of issues. I’ve always said to the Trust
while the house came from our family
if they decided they must open it
much more, that is their choice but it
wouldn’t be all right with me and we
would move. I wouldn’t want to stand
in their way but my understanding is
that the National Trust are very happy
with the present situation. They like
the family living here.
“We show people everything of
interest and as I tell them they may
have all been to stately homes which
are covered in Van Dykes and the
like. Mottistone Manor is not like
that; it is a family home. There were
some beautiful things here in my
grandfather’s day but the house has
been refurbished and refurnished since
then. There are not a lot of treasures,
just what you see.”
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