Trask Avenue

John Ruskin was a prominent Victorian era figure in England. He was, in turns, a writer, art critic, artist, social critic, thinker and philanthropist. Many of his social reform concepts were put into practice in the decades following his death including The National Trust, universal health care, pensions for manual laborers, and progressive city planning, among others. In 1871 Ruskin bought Brantwood, a house overlooking Coniston Water in Cumbria, England, sight unseen for £1500. He would live here until his death in 1900. The house is currently a museum. Here are a few photos taken on the grounds accompanied by a few of Ruskin’s quotes.

“The sky is the part of creation in which nature has done for the sake of pleasing man.”

“An architect should live as little in cities as a painter. Send him to our hills, and let him study there what nature understands by a buttress, and what by a dome.”

“Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance.”

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”