Stowe Maries

In an interview for Modern Screen:

"I want to tell you about my new home. I have always wanted a home of my own in England. And this time when I went over I looked around for one. After quite a search I found an old workman's cottage—that is, it had been one originally, nearly four hundred years ago—but it had been added to and remodelled through the centuries, until now it is most picturesque. It's in Surrey. In the Surrey hills.

"Of course, I spent much more money than I should have in fixing it up. I put in bathrooms. I added a wing for the children. I enlarged the stables and bought a few horses. There's about thirty acres of ground around it and I had to landscape them. One of the great thrills of my life came to me when I discovered the magnificent old wooden beams under the stucco. They must have been on the house when Queen Elizabeth reigned, so I had all the outside taken off in order that they might be seen. It's really a very nice house. I had a perfectly grand time doing it over—and the children just adore it.

"I like to hunt very much, and I hunted right up until the day I sailed for America. My little daughter, Leslie, hunts with me. She's nine and has turned out to be a great little horseback rider. We spend days out on our horses riding through the country-side. The boy doesn't seem to care so much for riding. He's more the studious type. But Leslie is a great companion and I miss her. 

"I talked to them both yesterday over long distance. They have their governess, a Miss Gospel (don't you love the name?) and she has been with them ever since they were born. We thought because they love the place so and the fact that they're both in school, they should be left behind." 

"Leslie Howard Didn't Want To Come Back," Modern Screen, March, 1934

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