On Saturday 13th June, 11 ODs descended on Simon Draper's (F, 1967, left) magnificent home, Monkton House. There to take in his truly impressive collection of high-performance motor cars and superb art collection. Monkton House, standing on 70 acres near Chichester, is itself a masterpiece of design (Lutyens in 1902-3) and decoration (Salvador Dali in the 1930s) and now kept impeccably by Simon with many pieces of furniture especially designed and made for the house.
After meeting for a quick cup of coffee, Simon pointed out some of the interesting and unusual features of the house, before walking up to the first of his two garages housing the incredible motor car collection. Mostly Aston Martins, but with Bristols and Ferraris (and Bentleys and RRs and even a Citroen not far behind — and some the names of which I can't remember) these cars represent a life of careful searching for, finding, purchasing, and perfect maintaining of over 80 cars, each of which is in perfect running order and showroom condition.
We were also able to see a sample of the fabulous and valuable books that Simon has published through his publishing company Palawan, as well as a truly magnificent art collection.
Between garage one and two, we checked into the White Horse Pub to absorb not just what the pub had to offer but to process and marvel at what we had seen.
Simon is a passionate, knowledgeable and expert collector, and a patient and clear communicator. We all appreciated his generosity very much
The names of the ODs on the trip are at the bottom of this post.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
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| The sensational gates to the Monkton House |
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| Simon introducing Monkton House to Neil Orpen (left) and Denis Christie (right) |
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| Walking from the house to the garages. Top, Richard Bottger, John Stanford and Denis Christie. Bottom: Greg Baldwin and Manfred Bottger |
A sample of the collection: |
| Trying before driving: above, John Stanford and below Richard Bottger |
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| Very difficult to describe in words |
Absorbing it all:
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| Neil Orpen, Denis Christie, Richard Bottger, Martin Critchell, John Stanford, Stuart Crawford-Browne and Greg Baldwin |
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Top: John Stanford, Greg Baldwin, Manfred Bottger, Denis Christie, Simon Draper, Martin Critchell and Stuart Crawford-Browne
Below: Richard Bottger, Simon Draper, Stuart Crawford-Browne and John Stanford |
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| They go on and on; each different; each interesting and all hugely impressive |
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| Art among the art: Niall Carroll, Richard Bottger and Simon Draper |
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| Wildlife in the garden: Caelim Parkes and Neil Orpen; and (as far as I know) an unnamed American owl. |
And then a comfort break:
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| Clockwise from bottom left: Stuart Crawford-Browne, Richard Bottger, Simon Draper, John Stanford, Niall Carroll, Manfred Bottger, Greg Baldwin, Martin Critchell (hidden - or hiding), Caelim Parkes, Neil Orpen and Denis Christie |
The guest list:
