The House Opposite
Our reason for coming to England was to see gardens. After a few days, it was clear that it would be hard to stay focused. We promised ourselves that we would come back one day and concentrate more on history (That never happened but would have; should have.) It took discipline, but we kept to our plan—almost. We had planned to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but instead spent our days in London taking in the history. This picture is a good illustration of getting back to our plan of focusing on gardens because it practically ignores the history right next door.
We chose June for our visit because we knew the roses would be in their first, best bloom. They were everywhere, climbing and cascading along walls and buildings, even in alleyways. This house was directly across from the Inn’s car park entrance. If you look closely, the house to the left has a sign above the door that reads “The House Opposite.” The sign on the front of the Mermaid Inn points to it. Instead of focusing on that apparently well-known structure, I concentrated on this rose and garden next door. The House Opposite, I find out now, was for sale not long ago. Here’s the brochure from the realtor. I wonder who bought it?