Broad Leys

After we left Blackwell we decided to "gatecrash" Broad Leys, an Arts and Crafts house just a bit further up Lake Windermere. We've wanted to see the house for quite a while, but it is a private club - the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club - and not open to the general public. We walked in, and were made very welcome. The view from the terrace is stunning!

Broad Leys was designed by the renown Arts and Crafts architect C F A Voysey. It is considered to be one of his masterpieces. The remarkable full-height bay windows capture the breathtaking views of Windermere while harnessing the abundant daylight to draw the outdoor inside. This characteristic is frequently observed in Arts and Crafts properties. Voysey wrote that "the windows are the eyes, through which we may see the beauties that are superhuman".

After her husband's premature death, Helen Currer Briggs rented the house to Beatrix Potter's family during the summers of 1909 and 1912. Beatrix described it as "a large comfortable estate with charming gardens but a long walk to and from Hill Top via the ferry". It was at Broad Leys that she finished Ginger and Pickles.

Beatrix Potter with Canon Rawnsley at Broad Leys

Annie Garnett, a close friend of Arthur and Helen Currer-Briggs, visited in 1900 and noted that the spot chosen for the house was "right on the daffodil mound where we have gathered bunches of yellow flowers year after year". 

An absolutely stunning house, and we're so glad we had the cheek to pop in!