3. 1. Dream Houses
Conocimiento previo
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One of the most famous squatters of all times is Robert Louis Stevenson.
Robert Louis Stevenson was a famous Victorian author. He mainly wrote mystery and adventure stories, and his books are still read and enjoyed today.
He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850. His family were wealthy and, as a child, he was looked after by his nanny. When he was twelve, Robert Louis Stevenson, his parents and his nanny went on a five month holiday. They visited France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Robert Louis Stevenson was a sickly child. He was exceedingly thin and frail, and he suffered with coughs and fevers. When he was just sixteen he wrote The Pentland Rising, a story based on a historical event. His father paid for 100 copies to be printed in pamphlet form.
Robert Louis Stevenson went to Edinburgh University. He started to study engineering, but soon switched to studying the law. He passed his legal exams, but in his heart he knew he wanted to be a writer. In 1876 he went on a canoeing trip to Belgium and France with a friend. He kept a journal of his travels and used it to form the basis of his first book, An Inland Voyage. In France, Stevenson met an American woman called Fanny Osbourne. He fell in love with her.
In 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson travelled all the way from Britain to America to see Fanny Osbourne, and they got married in 1880. The Silverado Squatters (1883) is Robert Louis Stevenson's travel memoir of his two-month honeymoon trip with Fanny Vandegrift (and her son Lloyd from her previous marriage) to Napa Valley, California. They first went to the Hot Springs Hotel in Calistoga, but unable to afford the 10 dollars a week, they spent an unconventional honeymoon in an abandoned three-storey bunkhouse at a derelict mining camp called "Silverado" on the shoulder of Mount Saint Helena in the Mayacamas Mountains. Then they decided to live in Britain and set up home with Fanny’s twelve year old son.
In 1881 the Stevenson family went on holiday in Scotland. It rained for days on end, and to pass the time Lloyd made up an drew a map of an imaginary island. The map made Robert Louis Stevenson think of pirates and treasure, and inspired him to write Treasure Island. Treasure island was first published as a book in 1883. It was very successful and turned Robert Louis Stevenson into a well-known writer.
Robert Louis Stevenson continued to experience health problems as an adult. He suffered with chest infections and was often so ill he couldn’t leave his bed. In 1886 he wrote both The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kidnapped. Much of the writing was done from his sickbed.
From 1888 to 1890, the Stevenson family spent two years sailing around the Pacific Ocean islands. Robert Louis Stevenson decided to build a house on the island of Upolu, in Western Samoa. He carried on writing, but found it increasingly difficult as his illness become worse. In December 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson died. He was only 44 years old. His body was buried on Mount Vaea, Upolu.
Read these three poems for children by R.L. Stevenson.
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Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day? |
At the Seaside
When I was down beside the sea A wooden spade they gave to me To dig the sandy shore. My holes were empty like a cup, In every hole the sea came up, Till it could come no more. |
Pirate Story
Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, Three of us abroad in the basket on the lea. Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring, And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.
Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat, Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat, To Providence, or Babylon or off to Malabar?
Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea-- Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar! Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as they can be, The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore. |
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Why did Stevenson go to the South Pacific? Why did the Stevensons first spend two years wandering about in a variety of ships to Tahiti, the Marquesas, Hawaii, the Cooks, Tonga, the Gilberts, New Caledonia, the Tokelaus and Australia? Why did he decide to spend what would be the last four years of his life in Samoa?
Biographers agree that Stevenson did it because he loved the sea, because he loved adventures, and he did it because it would be good for his health, which was never good. The people who benefited the very most from his travelling were his readers, the ones who, to this day, continue to find pleasure in one of the best books about the South Pacific, In the South Seas, which was completed at Vailima. Fortunately, for Stevenson, by the time he and Fanny first sailed away from San Francisco on the sailing yacht “Casco” in 1888, he had achieved a literary reputation. His Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Treasure Island, and Kidnappedhad come out, and unlike his earlier books that may have been overlooked, these books ensured the economic ability to sail, to travel at will, and to build his dream house, Vailima, in Samoa.
Building that house in early 1890 was rough on the Stevensons. They worked hard, and lived austerely. They got away occasionally, to Australia and other Pacific islands. On a visit, Stevenson's mother was appalled at the primitive life the unfinished house provided and quickly decided to go back to Sydney and wait until conditions at Vailima improved. By fits and starts matters were improved, and in May 1891 Stevenson’s mother returned. There at Vailima she found herself a part of a congenial family, a family composed of her son Louis, his wife Fanny, Belle Strong (Fanny’s daughter by a previous marriage), her son Lloyd, and Belle’s son Austin. Added to this was a group of attentive Samoan Servants. It was a big, active, and animated household.
Source: http://www.literarytraveler.com/articles/robert-louis-stevenson-and-western-samoa/
Think for a few minutes about what your dream house or flat is like and make brief notes. Use the vocabulary we have learnt in the lesson to help you. Talk for about 3 minutes.
Where is it?
What kind of house or flat is it?
What special features does it have?