Sir Edwin Lutyens

Today is the birthday of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens ("Lutchins"). Edwin went by Ned.

When Ned was almost forty, he was hired to work on a house for the great garden designer and horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll. It was the beginning of a professional collaboration and friendship that had profound effects on the English country garden. Jekyll and Ned created some of the greatest Edwardian gardens in the world. Lutyens reflected on the work of a garden designer when he wrote:

“No artist has so wide a palette as the garden designer, and no artist is in greater need of discretion and reserve.”

When Jekyll introduced Ned to the founder of Country Life Magazine, Edward Hudson, she created another invaluable source of synergy for his work. Hudson greatly admired Ned’s work and he became a vital patron. He regularly shared Ned’s work in his magazine, he commissioned Ned to design numerous jobs for his many homes, and he even had Ned design the new office space for the magazine.
The home Lutyens designed for Hudson known as Deanery Garden is arguably his best country home. It’s now owned by Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page.