Sunday, March 30, 2008

Fairy House For Sale!

Though I am a fan of all things "Fortean", I came to the story of the Cottingley Fairies late. If you don't know, these were:

...a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins living in Cottingley, near Bradford in England, depicting the two in various activities with supposed fairies. In 1917, when the first two photos were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10.

The photographs sparked a decades-long debate about their authenticity, and earned the cousins widespread notoriety. Although four of the five were ultimately admitted to be fake, the two cousins disagree about the authenticity of the last.

Of them, number two (above, with a "gnome") is probably my favorite, because of the weird effect with Elsie's(?) hand which I believe is said to be the result of a long exposure. Although this one


...is the more famous, in fact it is supposed to be one of the most repoduced photographs on the planet.

In any case, the Cottingley house, containing the garden where Elsie and Frances cavorted with their fairies is now up for sale (£154,995). As it turns out, its the end unit on an old row house:
Ah well, when fantasy meets reality, reality usually loses. The garden, however, is still there, and still a little bit uncanny.

I have emailed the Realtor in question to see if there is any connection to the original inhabitants (the Wright's, I think). Will update if I hear anything.

h/t CFI blog.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This has to be a clever attempt to get me to call somebody a "fairy" and launch a subsequent CHRC complaint. I'm not biting.

Ti-Guy said...

I'm not biting.

Too late. You already did.

I didn't think about that until after about the third paragraph, when I thought "Gee, which troll is going to call Dion a fairy?"

It's OK...we know Conserva-boys can't stop thinking about man-sex. I just would you'd all be a little more discreet about it.

Shannon said...

Ah, the Cottingly fairies. A particular favorite subject of mine I must say. Some people don't know this but on their death-beds one claimed them to be fake while (very interestingly)the other claimed them to be real. Amazing that the house is for sale, i wish i could get it. Alas i would never move from where i live now, i guess I'll just admire the house and garden from pictures...

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Unknown said...

Love the garden, want to see other photos of the garden. Waiting to read the updates. :)

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Unknown said...

Hmmm, though I don't believe in fairies and other supernatural stuff, I like the architecture of the Cottingley house. It's like I'm taken back to the 1920s, when the war was over and people were celebrating. If I were the owner of that house, I would preserve its natural form. I bet the the fairies would agree on that.


Gloria Vanderheyden