Wallace purchases land to build the house Old Orchard
Full transcription
Parkstone, Dorset.
Oct[obe]r 25th. 1901
My dear Violet
At last the deed is done! "I've met the Douglas in his hall, - the
Lion in his den!" and have come out safely! His roar was terrible!
but he ended as mildly cooing as any sucking dove! That is a
poetical account of my interview yesterday with the great Paterson, Lord Wimborne's mighty
agent, to settle all details as to the land at Broadstone, which is
now as good as purchased; and as soon as I have marked out the
exact boundaries of the
piece of ground I want
& formally accepted the terms we have agreed on, I can have
possession & begin doing what I like. I got this favourable
inclusion by offering to pay down the whole purchase money as soon as the
legal conveyance is ready to be signed,- and we parted quite
like old friends The price is high, - but there is no spot to equal
it for miles around, and compared with the price of land here, or at Hurst, or at Godalming, even Ma acknowledges
now that it is not dear.
Besides about an acre of grass & a little heather, there are
two beautiful bits of wood one with large Spanish chestnuts in it,
the other with oaks & other trees and a very fine old fir tree,
& between the two an old school in a little valley with
beautiful grass under the trees and a view right over Poole Harbour to the Purbeck hills on the right and to
the Old Harry rocks on the
left --South & south-east.
It is only ½ mile from Braodstone station:-the views cannot
possibly be shutout or even interfered with, & as it is at
present in a large field above the woods and there is no road to it, it will probably be
some years before that is built over, especially as without cutting
the woods down there is no view!
If you & "Dolly" like to come at half-term do so, and we will
go to Fordingbridge &
make enquiries. The country there is lovely, and the
surroundings altogether more attractive than Broadstone, there
being both river &
forest. But consider the
possibility, even probability of its being wet all the time! &
will it be worth while? At Christmas there is sure to be some fine weather, & for you
that will be plenty of time. Miss B. could have an acre joining me for
£200, & I think a
view could be had by clearing away some wood, but I will see next
time I go. At Fordingbridge she would probably get 2-3 acres for
same money.
In haste your affectionate & "chortling" Pa -
[signed]
Alfred R. Wallace
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