English Country Home Where Artist Augustus John, His Wife (and His Mistress) Lived Asks £1.375M

The English country home where Bohemian Welsh artist Augustus John defied Victorian respectability by living in a “throuple” with two women at the turn of the 20th century has hit the market in Essex, England.

It was in this 160-year-old brick cottage, known as Elm House, that John, an important figure in British post-impressionism, lived at the same time with his first wife, artist Ida John, and his mistress and muse, Dorelia McNeill—an unconventional setup in thrilling defiance of the moralistic attitudes of the time. The property, which recent owners have since transformed into a modern family home, hit the market before the holidays asking £1.375 million (US$1.8 million), according to the listing agents, Knight Frank.

The Johns moved into the brick house in the quaint town of Matching Green in 1903. At the time, Ida John didn’t think much of the look of the house, remarking in a letter that she only made the interiors “bearable by our reproachable taste.”

But the verdant setting was a great source of inspiration to the painter, who wrote in a letter that he sometimes saw “things so beautiful I wonder my poor eyes don’t drop out,” according to a collection of the family’s letters, "The Good Bohemian: The Letters of Ida John," published in 2017.

A century later and greenery still surrounds most of the country house. It overlooks a rolling field that encompasses the local cricket club, while its back terrace leads to a well-maintained lawn and a forest of trees beyond, images of the home show.

The contemporary interiors of Elm House would most certainly be unrecognizable to the Johns, who during their time had no electricity or telephone.

Today’s owners, Roberto and Giovanna Zeollo, who run The Chequers Matching Green pub next door, have fully renovated and restored the 2,800-square-foot house over the last two decades.

Ref: Property Report