If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you may have heard of her novel Dead Man Folly. Do you know the TV film was filmed at Agatha Christie's holiday home in South West England called Greenway? Greenway is set in a very secluded location by the River Dart with sublime views, and covers around 36 acres. To give you an idea how big that is, it took me around 10 minutesto walk from the carpark to the house, and from the house to the famous boathouse (see below) about 20 minutes.
To get to Greenway House you have to drive from the nearest village down a very narrow lane which is just enough for one car to pass by. During that one mile drive, which felt like forever, I was so worried there would be oncoming traffic!! Luckily I made it to the car park safely. I'm not sure what one would do if there was oncoming traffic!! From there, it was another ten minute walk to the house. Greenway is so well hidden at such a tranquil setting, no wonder Agatha Christie wrote so many great novels during her holidays here!!!
Walk from the car park to the house
GREENWAY HOUSE
For such a famous person, Greenway is quite a modest house. By the way, in case you're unfamiliar with the author, "outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time". Source Some of the exhibits on display at Greenway give you an idea of how famous she was.
Yet her holiday home is so low-key, you wouldn't think it once belonged to such a famous person. The downstairs of Greenway consisted of the drawing room, nothing to flashy, but it did have a Steinway boudoir grand piano that dates back to the 1800s. Agatha Christie was quite an accomplished pianist as well as a great writer.
Then there's a large dining room which could easily sit 10 or 12 people. One thing that caught my eye in the dining room was the curve door. If you look at the wall, it is slightly curved and it's not from me taking a wide angle shot. The door follows the contour of the wall, such a beauty.
UPSTAIRS
Moving upstairs, the first room that is open for public viewing is the toilet. This is a very interesting room. The toilet you see at the far end is a mobile toilet that belonged to Agatha Christie. Her husband, Max Mallowan was an accomplished archaeologist and when she went with him on his expeditions, she insisted on taking her own personal mobile toilet. I don't blame her for that! There are also a few trunks in the toilet, presumably part of their expedition luggage.
This is the couple's bedroom, another modest room. Apart from the main bed, there's an additional bed in the room. That was used by Max Mallowan when he went on his expeditions, and apparently, he found it so comfortable that he insisted on sleeping in it even after he returned home from his expeditions.
The Library
It would be surprising not to find a library in an author's home. When I entered the library, a series of murals around the room caught my eye. They looked a bit out of place. It turns out that during the second world war, the US Coastguards used Greenway as their base.During their stay at the house, one of the coastguard was an artist and he painted murals documenting their 11 month journey from America to Greenway. After the war, Agatha Christie decided to keep the murals as a memento to the war.
Nature
After touring the house, I went outside for a walk, through the grounds to the Boathouse. There's a lot of outdoor space at Greenway, a whole 30+ acres. Much of the grounds were developed by the previous owners and date back to the 18th century. The walled garden near the house has a summer house and that's where the gardeners grow whatever they grow. The woodlands are situated at a higher level up than the house and there are some gorgeous view points looking out to the River Dart.
I loved how they had installed a nature poetry board in the garden. Visitors could write their poems using the magnetic words. Sadly a lot of the magnets had fallen off the words and I was left with limited options for my poem. I think I still did a pretty ok job 😀
listen to acorns gather the fallen crunch
sprinkle red leaves toward you
when apples ripen forest turn
tall bird whisper with splash
THE BOATHOUSE
And finally we arrive at the famous Boathouse. This is situated at the far end of the grounds. The boathouse was built around the 18th century. There are two levels, with the lower level directly by the River Dart. It is thought that back in those days, people like to bathe in the river as they believe it was good for their health. Then during the second world war, the US Coastguard used the boathouse to train and prepare for the D-Day. I walked down to the river bank, but there wasn't much to see and the lower level was closed to visitors.
The upper level of the boathouse had one biggish room. There was nothing special about it either, other than it features in Agath Christie's novel Dead Man Folly. This is the location where Marlene Tucker was killed in the novel. I actually watched Dead Man Folly after I visited Greenway, and it was great to see the places that I had been not too long ago, including the exact spot where the murder took place.
Anywhere, what I really want to show you, is my favorite photo from my visit to Greenway - this sublime view of the River Dart from the Boathouse balcony.
Hope you enjoyed the tour of Greenway, and learned a bit more about one of the greatest authors in the world.
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That is a beautiful house and grounds. I love old houses like that. They have so much character.
That curved door is very cool. That's a nice little feature.
The curved door and the boathouse view were my favorite, but getting there down the narrow lane was a bit annoying.
Yeah that is a long walk. But the view at the boathouse would be worth it in my opinion.
Woahoo, Greenway does seem like a great place to visit and all these images you took are just so beautiful, I love that of nature more, I guess it's because it looked more colorful, hehe.
And your poem is really nice despite the limited magnetic words. I see you love books a lot, that library was awesome by the way. I love the painting on the wall or was that a wallpaper? The one in the library.
I talked about the background of the painting in the library in my post. Did you not read it?
I just read it now, it is a murals documenting done by one of the coastguard, I got my response now and that means it is a painting, thank you!
I did not if not I should have seen it. I only read a the parts that I could because I was having some troubles with my phone but I will have to go read it again to find that out.
Thank you so much for the pointer
That is pretty awesome. I have never read any of her novels, but my sister was a big fan when we were growing up. She would be very jealous that you were able to visit this place. The photos are beautiful. I can definitely understand why she spent her time here. It looks like a magical place!
I think it's great as a holiday home, once you enter the grounds it's like you're in your own world looking out across the river
That would be awesome!
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The house looks fantastic. You have taken some great photos too!
Thanks @mypathtofire , credit to the location, all it had to do is just press a button 😉
I have this urge to watch an Agatha Christie film now. 😊
It makes a nice break from what's normally on the telly nowadays 🙂
Greenway House is a historic building with a great path through the greenery
You been before as well?
While visiting this place and inside the building, one may think that she is traveling in time.
Interesting observation
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36 acres, murals in the library, mobile toilet, a takeaway bed, boathouse - not flashy, but surely fancy. I see what you mean though. I do not think there is anyone in the world that hasn't read at least an excerpt from Agatha's works.
Did you get any info on where did she work the most? I want to believe it was in the garden as opposed to the library. What a view from the boathouse, eh? Total killer! :D
She had a little office in the house with an old typewriter, can't remember why I didn't take a photo of it. Probably coz it is wa so low key again 😂 The volunteers at the house mentioned she liked to gather the family in the drawing room to read them parts of her new book.
damm that's a mansion! it is gigantic and really beautiful.
I wonder how much it will cost to maintain a house like this, the bill must be a lot haha
This is actually very small compared to many other old grand houses in England. Running costs are very expensive for these houses that's why quite a lot of families donate them to organisations who specialises in preserving important buildings (like this one ) or use it to pay inheritance tax when the owner dies
Wow what a stunning place @livinguktaiwan 😊👋🏻
It truly looks large.
So great you could visit so many areas of it.
Love the murals in the library. And the scenery, gardens and boathouse are wonderful to see 🥰😊
Have an awesome weekend 👋🏻☀️
The grounds are large but the actual house isn't hugh ( well it is by you and I standard 😂), but nevertheless a great day out
Hehehe I guess it is…
Good to hear it was a great day out 😊😎
Enjoy the evening 👋🏻💃🏻
Wow! For a person who lives in Cuba this a awesome tour. Seeing the inside of the famous Agatha Christie's house is a fascinating experience, if only through words and photos. Very well narrated the tour, makes me feel right there.
Of all I enjoyed the library and the mural the most. Thanks for this opportunity.
I'm glad that I can share it with so many people from so far away and that you enjoyed the tour
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Oh I love it around that area . Brixham Belle used to give rides from Brixham up the Dart to see that house from the water, obviously! Always a beautiful boat trip. Looks really nice inside too. Will add it to the huge 'to do' list :-)
I didn't know about boat rides until I got there, would love to do that next time I'm around
Everything is great! From the human architectural designs up to the nature's beauty. It is sooo amazing. The river is clean. The calming and the soothing effect of the place is alluring and captivating. Thank you for sharing us this spectacular place.
It's certainly a very lovely part of the country, no wonder Agatha Christie fell in love with the place
Thanks to you, we have seen an author's house and its surroundings. I see it as the best place for an author's writing inspiration to come from. Some writers are trying to write their articles while living in cedar-wood bungolows by the beach in a small town. For Agatha Christie, the situation seems a little different. That must prove his success. Very nice sharing, THANKS :))
Same us writing on Hive, we all get inspiration in different ways, just that not many can afford to buy a stunning house like hers 🙂
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O la la so many interesting things in one place; you did a great job in choosing such interesting things to put the focus on!
First of all I had no idea that Agatha Christie was a pianist. Her place was rather modest indeed. I loved the curved door, what a beautiful architectural initiative! The murals from the war are also very beautifully decorating the walls. Thanks for sharing all this information and pictures from your little tour @livinguktaiwan :)
P.S. You've got a little poet in ya!!
It was very interesting tour of the house of such a remarkable woman, she was so ahead of her times, so successful as a crime novelist that many male could not accept it.
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I have read some of her novels, good to see the place where she wrote her novels. A very serene place!
It's great to visit places where you can relate it to something else in life, and this is one of those.
wow It is very beautiful. This area and the road are really amazing. The architecture is also great
Yes, it a very nice place to visit, glad I can share it with people on Hive
First of all, good morning. I'm not an Agatha Christie fan myself, but my mom is a big fan of hers. As soon as I saw your article I wanted to share it with her. Her English is not very good, I translated your article and she intensely looked at the pictures but when I told her what this place is, she was very happy.
She said it was as if she was traveling there. She is an old woman, and one of her favorite things was the carpet because she has a very similar one in her house :D
The antique look of the furniture is very nice.
We thank you for this. For taking us to places we can't go!
Thank you for translating my post for your mother, I'm so glad that she can visit it virtually, and I hope she enjoyed it.
Not sure if your mother heard of Agathe Christie's famous disappearance during her first marriage? I did a walk at the location where she disappeared some years ago, perhaps your mother would be interested in that as well. Sorry, more translation work for you 😀
https://peakd.com/cn/@livinguktaiwan/a-mystery-walk
I will show her this article at the first opportunity as well 😁
Beautiful! I miss UK!
Come back and visit!!!
Wow - looks like a fantastic place to visit. The connection to the book makes it all the more interesting, and I loved the mural in the library wall, what a great story !
!LUV
Apparently, there's lot more to that story with the US Coast Guard operation in the area. The volunteer told me about Excercise Tiger where over 900 US servicemen died in a training exercise before D Day, but their deaths were kept secret until long after the war when they were given proper recognition and memorial.
Wow - that sounds like an awful tragedy.
A dream home for everyone, it would be great if it had such a complete residence, a library for studying, a dining room with the family as well as a beautiful garden to play with our children, it really should be fought for
It's so remote, I think it takes a particular type of person to live there. I wouldn't mind it as a holiday, but personally I'm not sure as permanent home!!!
I see what you mean, it's a little hard to find a comfortable place to live
Agatha Christie seems like she was a really cool person! I've read a few of her novels, (I'm more into fantasy) but I didn't know much about her overall. The fact she was also a pianist, AND the piano is one of the grandest items in her house gives a picture of a remarkable woman. Your photos are lovely as well, you captured the fine details of these spaces wonderfully, and the river view 😍 wow! Thank you for sharing 😁
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. I'm glad you learned more about her, that's the great thing about Hive, you learn so much random things here
I love Agatha Christie novels as she is one of my favorite writers. I had no idea you could visit this house. I would find good inspiration to write in it too, but I would be a little scared to be alone being so big and with, apparently, no one around. I could write good ghost stories there. Thanks for telling us about this place!
Many of these grand houses in UK are open to the public to visit to help with maintenance charges as they preservation cost can be very high. Even Buckingham Palace in London is open as well, so the Royal Family face the same cost issue!!!
I loooove your post!! I’ve heard a lot about Agatha Christie but I’ve never read her novels!! Not even one! I didn’t know she is the most important novel seller after the Bible and Shakespeare!! I love the pictures and the house. It’s so fun, I imagined myself there, and as I have no idea about anything in the novels, I could have been walking around the murder scenes in the fiction without a clue!!
Amazing! Very nice post!
It was sure a very interesting place to visit, almost makes Agatha Christie come real when you get so close to her life.