March 15, 2024

Colin Stokes, Colin's barn

pictures are screenprints from the videos in the documentation

The complex of buildings pictured above partly includes living space and for a larger part stables and storage facilities for hay. It is located in an area of grass near the hamlet of Chedglow, part of the village of Crudwell with about 1000 inhabitants in the Wiltshire region, about 85 miles west of London.

Life and works

This complex, known as Colin's Barn, or Hobbit House, was created by Colin Stokes, who was born in 1945 and who not only became skilled in making stained glass windows, but also went into farming as a keeper of a flock of sheep.


To properly care for his flock of sheep, in 1989 he built with his own hands a simple rectangular sheepfold, using chunks of Cotswold stone found lying around in the surrounding field.

This was the start of a construction project that would keep him busy in the years that followed. His singular architecture was built of stacked stones, decorated with cement on the inside to provide strength.

He built a hay warehouse and other structures functional to his business, but he also created -as depicted in above image- a two-story living area where he could stay with his flock when necessary.


The images of this temporary accommodation structure show that the shelter was higher and more extensive than all other structures.
The building had two floors and was equipped with turrets and dovecotes. Inside there was a spiral staircase from the ground floor to the first floor, where also was a simple bedroom, which Stokes could use to spend the night during the lambing season.

And then there were all kinds of narrow stairs, fences and attics, all constructed single-handedly.


The images above and below show that Stokes  had artistic skills, which allowed him to provide some rooms with beautifully decorated arches and windows inlaid with stained glass. 

The information available on the internet does not indicate whether Stokes had any professional training in this regard.

In 2000, a marble quarry was opened near Colin Stokes building. The noise that this business entailed prompted him reluctantly selling his property and moving elsewhere, leaving his project in the good condition it was in at the time.

In 2013 it was reported that Stokes, then aged 68, was farming sheep, poultry and angora rabbits near Moffat in Scotland. 

As far as is known, Stokes died in 2021


The barn is a little difficult to find, and is on private land. The current owner of the site does not appreciate visitors and chases them away when he is around. A sign discourages visitors, but it doesn’t seem to work, because there are various reviews from visitors on the internet.


Documentation
* Article on website Atlas Obscura
* Article (November 2013) on Mail Online
Article (January 2021 by Hugh Williams, with pictures that give a good impression of the stacked stones in Stokes' creations

Videos
* Video (4'52", May 2021, YouTube) by RPM Adventure



Video (17'41", 2022, YouTube) by Partners of the Forgotten World



Colin Stokes
Colin's barn
Chedglow, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
address not available
visitors not welcome

March 08, 2024

Abbé Clovis Vannobel and anonymous workmen, Décoration du pavillon des Iris / Iris pavilion decoration

this image and the next two as on the website
Habitants-Paysagistes, published here in agreement with the
photographer Francis David

The facade decorated with a tree as shown above can be seen in a street in the municipality of Steenwerck, a little town with some 3400 inhabitants, located in North West France, near the border with Belgium. 

In the field of art environments the town is known for Arthur Vanabelle's La ferme aux avions (The airplane farm), a site located in the outskirts of the municipality until around 2015. The local Musée de la vie rurale (Museum of rural life) was donated a representative number of creations after Vanabelle's death.

The building with the decorated wall was built on the site of a hotel that was destroyed during the First World War. Subsequently, two breweries were built on the site, which went bankrupt during the Second World War. A director of one of the breweries had a country house there.

After the war, the complex was purchased by a social organization led by Abbot Clovis Vannobel, in order to establish there a rest home for women, initially only in the director's house, then also in one of the breweries after it had been renovated.

the abbot is depicted among the branches

The part of the rest home in the director's house was named Les Iris, referring to the numerous flowers of this species that bloomed in the nearby park-like grounds.

Restoring the facade

In the early 1970s, the facade of the Pavilion Les Iris was restored. Then it was given its characteristic decoration with a tree, an idea by Abbot Vannobel who saw the shape in his imagination.

Two workers, who did maintenance work for the rest home, helped realize the idea. The wall was treated with linseed oil and zinc white was used to make the wall nice and smooth. After the preparatory work, a sketch of the tree was drawn on the wall and colored in a dark shade against a light blue speckled background.

It turned out to be a successful project that is still present today.


After the rest home closed in 1976 due to financial problems, the municipality of Steenwerck became owner of the buildings. Some were converted into apartments and other accommodations. 

The Pavillon des Iris was completely restored and refurbished. Since 2010 it houses the regional tourist office.

Abbé Clovis Vannobel and anonymous workmen
Iris pavilion decoration
3 Grande Rue
Steenwerck, dept Nord, region Hauts-de-France, France
can be seen from the street


March 01, 2024

Giovanni Masiero, Giardino con sculture in metallo / Garden with metal sculptures


this picture and the next four are screenprints
from the videos in the documentation

Salzano is a community on the mainland of northern Italy, part of the Metropolitan City of  of Venice, located some 24 km from the famous island with the same name.

Life and works

In this community there is an art environment with a variety of creations made by Giovanni Masiero (September 12, 1933 - March 7, 2017), who was a carpenter by profession and made the creations after he retired.
 
So far, there were no reviews on the internet about the size of this art environment and the manner in which it was created. As far as could be determined, local and regional newspapers also paid no attention to his creative work. Only the two videos in the documentation were available for information


Thanks to these two short videos (2014) on YouTube, available in this post, it was possible to get a visual impression of Masiero's creations.

Above, Masiero is pictured standing in his workshop.


However, almost simultaneously with the publication of this post, an article by Giada Carraro about the site appeared in her new website Bric-à-Brac Italia.

The original text about Masiero's site has therefore been adjusted and now appears in a new version.


Giada Carraro visited the art environment in 2015 and was warmly received by Masiero.

At that time the site had almost certainly reached its full size, since Masiero was in his early 80s and would die in March 2017.
Giada's article shows that in addition to the metal creations depicted in this post, numerous other, sometimes smaller characters also have a found a place in the site, such as a woman with a bouquet of flowers, a camel, a turtle and a deer. There is also a (miniature) spaceship. ​

Masiero's daughter, who currently lives in the house, prefers not to receive visitors, which is why the address of the site is not stated

Documentation
* Article by Giada Carraro on her new website Bric-à-Brac Italia

Videos
* Video (3'15", YouTube, 2014) by Artstucdecor 


* Another video (1'04", YouTube, 2014), also by Artstucdecor



Giovanni Masiero
Garden with metal sculptures
Marghera, region Veneto, Italy
preferably no visitors

February 23, 2024

Eugène Juif, Maison décorée / Decorated house


this picture and the next three (early 1980s) published here in agreement
with photographer Francis David, as on website Habitants-Paysagistes

In the small French community of Vy-les-Lure, with today about 700 inhabitants, a colorfully decorated house could be admired for many years along the Grande Rue (also departmental road D 486).

Life and works

This extensive decorative project was undertaken by Eugène Juif (May 18, 1901-January 24, 1982), who lived in this house with his wife Caroline for many years. 

He was a forester, who spent his spare time decorating both the exterior walls and the interior of the house. At the time the photos in this post were made, he had been retired for many years.

Before the decorations were added to the exterior wall of the house and the adjacent garage, these walls were painted bright yellow. The colorful decorations painted on these surfaces, mostly depicted large bunches of flowers in red pots.

The stone pillars and the edge of the fence along the street were also provided with striking colours. The top of the pillars were crowned with small sculptures of white birds.

Many interior spaces were also decorated, such as the bedroom depicted in the photo at the very bottom of this text.

And then, the couple's convertible was also put in the spotlight with floral motifs.

Eugène Juif in front of his decorated house

A photo of that convertible can be seen on the Lille Art Museum's website Habitants-Paysagistes. In addition to photographs by Francis David, the series also includes images from the collections of l'Aracine and Louise Tournay
   

Documentation
* A series of photographs of the site by Francis David and others on the website Habitants-Paysagistes (Lille Art Museum)
* The site has a review in Bruno Montpied, Le gazouillis des éléphants, Paris (Ed du Sandre), 2017

Eugène Juif
Maison décorée
Grande Rue 40

Vy-les-Lure, dept Haute-Saône, région Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

decorations don't exist anymore


February 17, 2024

Albert Barry, Jardin décoré / Decorated garden

pictures are screenprints
from the video (2006) in the documentation

Balaruc le Vieux is a small town with about 2600 inhabitants (2019) located in the Hérault area in the south of France near the Mediterranean Sea. Along the Avenue des Bains that leads to the seaside resort of Balaruc-les-bains, there was an art environment in the capacity of a decorated garden.

Life and works

This site is a creation of Albert Barry (February 20, 1908-July 2, 2000), who started the project in 1974 when he retired at the age of 66.

Barry had a career in viticulture, first as a winegrower in the vicinity of Balaruc-le-Vieux, later as director of the local winegrowing cooperative.

When he retired he had some health problems and doctors advised him to take it very, very easy. 

But Barry was afraid that doing so would make him waste away in boredom and he decided to take up the hobby of painting that he already had loved as a child. 

So he began making all kinds of painting indoors, but he was also attracted to making a variety of sculptures to brighten up the garden with all kinds of scenes.




It became a project of many years, in which he made many sculptures of animals, such as a small rabbit next to a panther, a turtle showing the way to a large peacock, a large pink flamingo, a toucan and a gibbon.

The series of photos provides an impression of Barry's collection of animal sculptures.

In addition to animal sculptures, he also made a miniature castle, as shown in the image at the very top.

And in the second photo from the top, Mickey Mouse appears, a character designed by Walt Disney in 1928.










Barry used all kinds of materials, such as concrete and iron, but also wood and plastic. 

Residents from the area also brought him items that were no longer used, such as when someone came to him with a basket of billiard balls that were no longer used. Barry was happy with them and transformed them into some winter-proof flower arrangements


Albert Barry died in June 2002, at the age of 92. Currently his art environment doesn't exist anymore.

Documentation
* Article Le Jardin d'Albert Barry by Yvonne Bruel in periodical Gazogène 17
* Albert Barry has a review in Bruno Montpied, La Gazouillis des Éléphants, Paris (Ed. du Sandre), 2017

Video
* Video (2007, 18.47, Daily Motion)  by Frédéric Boj et Marc Ayral



Albert Barry
Decorated garden

Avenue des Bains

Balaruc le Vieux, dept Hérault, region Occitanie, France

this art environment doesn't exist anymore



 


February 09, 2024

Marcel Lambert, Jardin décoré / Decorated garden

 
 entrance of the site
this  image and the next one as on Google Streetview (2021)

Jargeau is a municipality with about 4,600 inhabitants (2021) located along the Loire River, twenty kilometers east of Orléans. Around 1900, an art environment was created here, parts of which still exist, as can be seen  from the street.

Life and works

The house on the site, built in 1845, was purchased from a relative in 1895 by Marcel Lambert (1853-1921). It cannot be said with certainty what profession he had, but the assumption has been made that he was an amateur archaeologist, who may also have processed his finds in the region in the garden of the house.

The entrance to the garden in which the house was located (image above) was on the Rue de l'Echo. 

Lambert bought additional strips of land and so the garden. as a kind of urban estate, extended to the next parallel street, the Rue d'Orléans, where there was a artistically executed fence to enclose it (image below).
.
decorative fencing at the rear of the site

When Lambert died in his late sixties in 1921, he had transformed the resulting extensive space around his house into an art environment richly filled with creations. In addition to the towers already mentioned, he created numerous sculptures, many of which had a classical appearance. But he also made other types of creations, such as a cave.

To get an impression of the nature of the decorations applied by Lambert, one mainly has to rely on the postcards that were made during Lambert's lifetime. After Lambert died, the house was occupied by heirs, who generally did not open the garden to the public, a situation that apart from some rare exceptions. continues to this day.

In fact, on the internet only a publication from the regional Tourist Office is available that somewhat extensive provides information about the various elements that adorned the garden (see documentation).

this image and the next one are old postcards
 
Elements of the decorated garden

As mentioned, the towers, visible from the street, are still present today. There is a small iron tower to see, with a knight figure on the battlements, the only remaining one of a group of three. On the other side is a somewhat larger stone tower.

A part of the garden has been dedicated to Greek mythology. This section was formed by sculptures of the Three Fates, with on the left Clotho, goddess of birth, who unrolls the thread of life, in the middle Lachesis, who holds the thread as god of adulthood and on the right Atropos, the god of death, cutting the thread of life. 

At the bottom of this arrangement was a bas-relief depicting scenes from human life and an inscription in Greek saying Time passes and does not return.

Another referral to Greek mythology was a wall of the house, decorated with images of gods of Olympus such as Vulcan, Ceres, Bacchus and Jupiter cut from metal plates.



There were many sculptures in the garden, such as a child with a duck, two sheep standing on a piece of grass and a duo depicting Jean laughing and Jean crying. There were also two sculptures that seemed to stand guard and could also function as gargoyles, actually spewing rainwater.

There was also a fake cave in the garden. The story is that Marcel Lambert convinced visitors that from that cave there were underground passages, dating from the Middle Ages and leading to the Loire.

Thus a brief description of the rich collection of creations present in the art environment when Marcel Lambert died in 1921. What the garden looks like more than a hundred years later, is difficult to determine via the internet.

Documentation
* Article (2020) Le jardin artistique Jargeau by the Office de Tourisme Intercommunal Val de Loire & Foret d’Orléans
* Article (October 2011) by Jean-Michel Chesné on his weblog
* The site was reviewed in the book by Bruno Montpied, Le Gazouillis des Éléphants, Paris (Ed. du Sandre), 2017 

Marcel Lambert

Decorated garden

Rue de l'Echo

Jargeau, dept Loiret, region Centre-Val de Loire, France

no visits, towers can be seen from the street

February 02, 2024

José Domínguez Carbajo, El Recreo / The recreation


this image and the next two from Google Streetview

Roales, a community with some 900 inhabitants (2018), is located on a pilgrimage route to Santiago del Compostela. From this town it is about a 350 km walk in a north-westerly direction to reach that destination.

Anyone who enters Roales from the south will soon pass the garden with sculptures as shown above.

the entrance of the garden
Life and works

This garden is a creation of José Dominguez Carbajo (1936-2017), who was born in a commune not far from Roales. After primary school, he went to work for a company that built roads. He married and the couple went to live in Roales. They got a number of children and grandchildren, most of whom live in Roales.

Although Carbajo enjoyed drawing at a young age, artistic pursuits did not materialize until the age of 68, when he was retired. He had a vegetable garden near the southern entrance to Roales and he gradually started to fill it with sculptures.
another view from the street of the garden

Working with cement, which he painted with striking colours, he made a series of sculptures, some of which were life-size.

Starting at the entrance on the south side of the garden, we first see two eagles guarding the entrance on top of columns and then a life-size giraffe, as can be seen in the second photo from the top. 

In addition to the giraffe, there are numerous other animal sculptures, such as a wolf, a deer and the growling three-headed dog Cerberus

this picture from Sophie Lepetit's weblog

Carbajo's  art environment also has some striking sculptures, such as St. James galloping on a white horse in a flowing robe. The image above is a close up of James on horseback and the even higher image shows him riding the horse.

Another striking sculpture in this site is the person with the backpack in the very first image which depicts a walker on the pilgrimage route leading toward Santiago de Compostela. A website of a couple walking the route shows a photo of the art environment, of which they say they passed with a smile.



above two pictures also from Sophie Lepetit's weblog

The two photos above also show a special scene, on the upper one the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and on the bottom one the serpent that tempted them to eat the apple from the tree of knowledge.

The images from Google Streetview in this post were taken in July 2023. They show that Carbajo's art environment is still in good condition after his death in 2017. This probably thanks to family members living in Roales.

Documentation
* Article (2014) by Jo Farb Hernandez on the website of SPACES, with a variety of images
* Article June 2017) in Spanish newspaper La Opinion

José Dominguez Carbajo
El Recreo
83 C. Gral. Franco
Roales, dept Zamora, region Castilla y Léon, Spain
site can be seen from the road