With the acceptance of my article, ‘Reggie Cooper (1885-1965), restorer of houses and makers of gardens’ for publication by the journal Garden History, my ‘Quest for Reggie Cooper’ draws to an end. It has been fascinating. Especially rewarding were avenues suggested by the generosity of others sharing information with me. With their help it was possible to reconnect Reggie to places with which he was once closely associated (and sometime vice versa) whether it be First World War battles or country houses, reinstating the links eroded by the passage of time.
One of the highlights of the Reggie quest was the long postponed visit to Lawrence Johnston (1871-1958)’s Serre de la Madone in Menton which finally took place in May this year. It requires some imagination to place two of his oldest friends, Norah Lindsay (1873-1948) and Reggie, in the old farmhouse which Johnston extended, or the sub tropical gardens. Neither person is mentioned in the property’s storyboards or website (but then nor are his more illustrious friends like the American author Edith Wharton (1862-1937), another garden enthusiast).
Johnston bought Serre de la Madone in 1924, gradually developing it over the years by purchasing various farm plots in the Gorbio Valley. After his death the property passed through several owners, finally ending in a state of neglect.
Rescued in 1990 and listed as an Historic Monument for its ‘historical, landscape and cultural interest’, it is the property of the Conservatoire du Littoral. The city of Menton manages the site with the Association de Sauvegarde des Jardins d’Exception du Mentonnais.
The steep site is host to five thousand rare plants from across the globe and three national collections. However there are clearly maintenance issues due, presumably, to budget constraints. Promising new initiatives in a conservation and education programme include planting lemon trees on the three lower terraces, reviving the historic cultivation of citrus (sponsoring individual trees is invited: up to one hundred are through the scheme). Fourteen other terraces are earmarked for agricultural production. Participation in the preservation programme is encouraged.
Finding where, in 1930, Reggie sketched, at Lindsay’s instigation, the site’s development, was unachievable because the drawing doesn’t survive. But it was still a joy to see Serre de la Madone: to try and recapture it as it was in its heyday; to speculate whether Reggie’s Cothay Manor pool design had influenced that of the swimming pool, and to make comparisons with Johnston’s Gloucestershire garden, Hidcote.
South side of the house, courtyard in foreground ©Helen Langley, 2025