The first owner of such a house was Miss Wendy Darling from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Wendy is shot down by a naughty lost boy Tootles and so Peter and his pals build a little house around her singing:
'I wish I had a darling house
The littlest ever seen,
With funny little red walls
And roof of mossy green'
In the original play John's hat was the chimney and a slipper donned the door as a knocker. The Wendy House has become a traditionally British children's garden toy. Today you can find all sorts of Wendy Houses, from the simple plastic or wooden shed type to eco-friendly woven with willow, or according to my google searches the extravagant mini-me house with appropriately well dressed children (what has the world come to!)
Barrie's inspiration for the original Wendy House is claimed to be an old washhouse behind his childhood home in the Scottish town of Kirrimuir in Angus (also made famous for having the narrowest public footpath in Western Europe, measuring only 40cm... what a claim to fame!).
Looking at the rather larger Darling household in London, this was based on No 31 Kensington Park Gardens, owned by the Llewelyn Davies family between 1897 and 1904. He met the family whilst wrestling with his giant St Bernard dog who had decided to jump up onto its hind legs, a funny sight to see due to Barrie's small 4ft 10inch stature. A friendship began and he helped the family financially before the children were sadly left orphans and he moved in to look after them. The house is now split into flats and each one is priced over £1 million, lucky for some!
Walking down the canals of the Lee Valley today, I couldn't help but thinking of Wind In The Willows...I have decided to read/re-read all the classic British children's stories... Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Winnie-the-Pooh, Wind In The Willows... any other suggestions? Maybe I will find the origins of some more well used words and phrases!
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