FAMOUS FOLK AT HOME: India Hicks and her mother Lady Pamela at the Hicks family home in Oxfordshire, England

Pool garden pond at The Grove - Hicks family

ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSES: At home with India Hicks in her mother’s home The Grove near Brightwell Baldwin in England, and a look back at their former home, Britwell House, decorated by India’s father, the famous designer David Nightingale Hicks…

We have several posts relating to India Hicks and her family:

 Hicks house in Oxfordshire - Lady Pamela Hicks study at Britwell

Britwell House, in Britwell Salome, is now a wedding venue

 

BRITWELL HOUSE

Britwell House  in Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire was the Hicks’ main family home, and a place to experiment for designer David Hicks.

Britwell House in Britwell Salome Oxfordshire - exterior

 

Built around 1728, David and Pamela Hicks bought the Georgian property (with 20th century additions) shortly after their wedding in 1960. Read more about the structure via this British Listed Buildings record.

 

Britwell Salome - OxfordshireBritwell House in Britwell Salome Oxfordshire

 

The house and its contents were sold in 1979 when his business declined and taxes and maintenance became too costly.

 

David Hicks and Britwell House Oxfordshire

Hicks family homes - The Grove and Britwell House in Oxfordshire

The Grove, circled left, and Britwell house, circled right, in Oxfordshire

 

 

THE GROVE AND THE ALBANY

After the auction of Britwell House, the Hicks family moved to The Grove, a smaller house on the estate, in the valley below Britwell.

Designer David Hicks at home Oxfordshire

They also lived in a set of rooms at the Albany, the early-19th-century apartment building in Piccadilly, London which has housed many famous names over the years including Lord Byron, Aldous Huxley, Harold Nicolson, J.B. Priestley and William Henry Fox Talbot.

 

the albany piccadilly - exterior.pngthe albany piccadilly - print.jpgthe albany piccadilly interior.jpgthe albany piccadilly.jpg

The Albany, London

 

 

David Hicks spent the last 18 years of his life working on the house and garden at The Grove, which remains the Hicks family home today. He died of lung cancer in 1998 (read an obituary here), but went out in style: He designed his own coffin, in which he ‘lay in state’, according to his precise instructions, in the ground-floor room of the Gothick pavilion, also of his own design.

 

David Hicks - The Grove garden

 

Inspired by the Anglo-French gardens of the early 18th century, he created avenues and vistas of various sizes, forming an intricate sequence of green ‘rooms’, using a combination of rigid formality and lush romanticism.

See it via Google maps here.

 

Watch David Hicks showing the garden to Rosemary Verey in the winter of 1993:
 

 

 

Lady Pamela Hicks continues to live at The Grove, and whilst not open to the public, small private groups are occasionally allowed to visit. More information here.

The family also have a house called Savannah on the tiny adjoining island of Windermere (next to Eleuthera), in the Bahamas. Read India Hicks’  own account of the rebuilding work which was done following a hurricane  there. The property is now available for rent to private parties via India and David Flint Wood’s website. And you can take a look at India’s own Bahamas home and other guest properties via this Luscious blog post.

Learn more about David Hicks, his life and work, in David Hicks: A Life of Design by Ashley Hicks

 

The following photos are apparently from The Grove, but I suspect there might be some from Britwell House mixed in there too.

 

 

india hicks childhood home in england - the grove oxfordshire.jpgindia hicks - the grove oxfordshire - pamela mountbatten hicks.jpgAt home with India Hicks in Oxfordshire - Library.jpgAt home with India Hicks in Oxfordshire.jpgAt home with India Hicks in Oxfordshire UK.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside.jpgAt home with India Hicks in Oxfordshire - Details.jpgDavid Hicks office library - The Grove.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside5.jpgDavid Hicks home Oxfordshire - fireplace.pngDavid Hicks home Oxfordshire - India Hicks.jpgdavid pamela india hicks - the grove dining room.jpgDavid Hicks Drawing Room at The Grove.jpgIndia and her mother Lady Pamela in the Drawing Room.pngdavid nightingale hicks - the grove bathroom.jpgDavid Hicks at home Oxfordshire.pngindia hicks in hello mag.jpghicks family home - the grove bedroom.jpgindia hicks in hello mag - the grove.jpgdavid hicks - the grove 1980.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside2.jpgindia hicks - the grove oxfordshire - hallway entry.jpgindia hicks hello magazine.jpghicks family home - the grove dining room.jpgindia hicks - the grove oxfordshire england.jpgindia hicks - the grove oxfordshire.jpgLady Pamela grandaughter Dolly with Bun.jpgindia hicks childhood home in england - oxfordshire.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside3.jpgIndia and her daughter Domino at The Grove for Hello magazine.pngindia hicks childhood home in england oxfordshire.jpgindia hicks hello mag.jpgindia hicks elliott erwit.jpgLibrary at the Grove Oxfordshire.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside4.jpgAt home with India Hicks in the English countryside6.jpgThe Drawing Room at The Grove.jpgLady Pamela Mountbatten Hicks with her daughter India.jpgThe Grove Oxfordshire ome to David & Lady Pamela Hicks.jpgthe grove living room garden view.jpgindia hicks in england - the grove oxfordshire.jpgindia hicks childhood home in england - details.jpgThe childhood home of India Hicks in Oxfordshire.jpggarden gates designed by David Hicks.jpgBoxwood at the Grove.jpgPool garden pond at The Grove - Hicks.jpgA view to the terrace David Hicks created with shells.jpgindia hicks - the grove oxfordshire uk - exterior.jpgin the grove garden.jpgindia hicks childhood home in england - garden.jpgLooking to the drawing room window at The Grove.jpgdavid hicks - the grove garden.jpgPrivate garden of David Nightingale Hicks.jpgThe garden at The Grove UK.jpgThe black painted pool.jpgthe grove - david hicks garden.jpgthe grove garden oxfordshire.jpgPool garden pond at The Grove - India Pamela David Hicks.jpgThe Grove gardens - Hicks family.jpgindia hicks tods campaign.jpgelliot erwitt india hicks.png

 

 

 

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Don’t forget to check out the new LUSCIOUS SHOP for men’s and women’s fashion, kids, homewares, gifts and themed pages for beach and countryside lusciousness.

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Cheers, Natasha
www.myLusciousLife.com

 

 

 

 

 

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