Great Maytham Hall December 2003 the Country Houses Association announced that it was closing down its residential business and selling the eight Grade I and II listed buildings it owned. The walled garden of Great Maytham Hall provided the inspiration for one of the most famous of all books for children, "The Secret Garden". Its author, Frances Hodgson Burnett, lived at Great Maytham Hall from 1898 to 1907, where she found the old walled garden dating from 1721 sadly overgrown and neglected. Aided by a robin, Burnett discovered the door hidden amongst the ivy, and began the restoration of the garden, which she
Frances Hodgson Burnett In her later years she maintained the summer home on Long Island, and a winter home in Bermuda. "The Lost Prince" was published in 1915, and "The Head of the House of Coombe" and its sequel, "Robin, "were published in 1922. Burnett lived for the last 17 years of her life in Plandome Manor, where she died on 29 October 1924, aged 74. She was buried in Roslyn Cemetery. Her son Vivian was buried nearby when he died in 1937. During the serialization of "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in "St. Nicholas" in 1885, readers looked forward to new installments. The fashions