Phyllis Reiss

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phyllis Reiss
Born
Phyllis Emily Lucas

3 October 1886
Berkhamsted
Died1961
NationalityUnited Kingdom
OccupationGarden designer
Known fordesigning Tintinhull Gardens
Spouse(s)Capt. F.E. Reiss

Phyllis Emily Reiss born Phyllis Emily Lucas (3 3October 1886 – 1961) was a British garden designer noted for her work at her own Tintinhull Garden, and Montacute House.

Life[]

Reiss was born in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire. Her parents were Edith Hamilton (born Crake) and Colonel Alfred George Lucas. Her father had been in the army[1] and he served as High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1904[2] and well as a mayor of Lowestoft.[1]

They had a substantial home at Dowdeswell Manor in the Cotwolds near to Hidcote Manor Gardens.[3]

In 1933 Reiss and her husband, Capt. F.E. Reiss, bought Tintinhull House and Garden.[4] The garden layout had been developed by Dr. Price who had created triangular and diamond shaped flagstone paths and ornamental domes of box were planted in the 1920s.[5]

The Formal Gardens behind Tintinhull House in 2001

The existing early landscaping was expanded by Reiss starting in 1933 in an Arts and Crafts "Hidcote" style.[6] The 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) garden was separated into "rooms" by yew hedges and walls.[7] The different areas included Eagle Court, Middle Garden, Fountain Garden and Pool Garden.[6] The pool garden was their only additional area[8] and it was created on the site of a former tennis court.[5] This pool garden was a memorial to a nephew who had lost his life during the war above Malta.[8] A painting of him, Michael Lucas, is at Tintinhull.[9]

In 1954 Reiss gave the house and garden to the National Trust, but she continued to live in the house and care for the garden.

Death and legacy[]

Reiss died in 1961[1] and the National Trust continue to look after the property.[10] The house's later tenants included the garden designer and writer Penelope Hobhouse and her husband Prof John Malins from 1980 to 1993.[8] Reiss's carefree planting was said to have had a strong influence of Hobhouse as well as the American born designer Lanning Roper and Dame Sylvia Crowe.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Reiss [née Lucas], Phyllis Emily (1886–1961), garden designer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48842. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 2021-04-02. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "No. 27655". The London Gazette. 8 March 1904. p. 1538.
  3. ^ "TINTINHULL HOUSE, Tintinhull - 1001156 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  4. ^ Hailes, Julia. "Tintinhull House". Julia Hailes. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b Bond, James (1998). Somerset Parks and Gardens. Somerset Books. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0-86183-465-5.
  6. ^ a b Hegarty, Lesley (2 April 2021). "Treasures at Tintinhull". Somerset Life. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Tintinhull House Garden". Great British Gardens. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Tintinhull House Garden". Garden Visit. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Michael Lucas (d.1945), Nephew of Captain and Mrs F. E. Reiss | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  10. ^ "A gardener's garden". National Trust. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  11. ^ "Inspiring female garden designers in British history". Gardens Illustrated. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
Retrieved from ""