Why Henry Ford imported a Cotswold cottage to Michigan

Many of america bask taking souvenirs location from our holidays, but erstwhile you are the world's richest antheral the souvenirs tin beryllium overmuch bigger.

In the 1920s Henry Ford, the laminitis of the Ford Motor Company, was besotted with the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, and decided that helium wanted to ain a portion of it.

"He loved the region, and softly worked with his English agent, Herbert Morton, to find a gathering that was for merchantability to get it," said Jim Johnson, manager of Greenfield Village.

The Village - and adjacent Henry Ford Museum - were founded successful Michigan by Ford successful 1929 to cod objects that were being mislaid to a changing society, acknowledgment successful portion to Ford's ain invention, the Model T centrifugal car.

"It changed the velocity of beingness successful this state truthful quickly, and Henry saw things going by the wayside that helium wanted to preserve," said Mr Johnson.

Multi-billionaire Ford purchased full buildings, similar the Wright Brothers' store and Thomas Edison's laboratories, alongside smaller items.

The cottage was primitively known arsenic the Rose Cottage, due to the fact that of the mode the rainfall changed the colour of the limestone erstwhile wet.

Mr Morton bought the location for £500 and made respective modifications to cleanable the storybook cottage look for Mr Ford.

The Times paper reported that the section villagers "viewed the full proceeding with disfavour, not unmixed with indignation.

"In communal with astir agrarian parishes, Chedworth suffers from a scarcity of houses, caller ones are truthful costly to physique arsenic to enactment them beyond the scope of the mean man," the insubstantial wrote.

In January 1930 the dismantling began.

"It was without uncertainty the astir costly task astatine Greenfield Village," said Mr Johnson.

Keystones were numbered and bricks were packed into 506 sacks. Doors, windows, staircases and beams were packed into a further 211 crates.

Mr Ford adjacent imported immoderate Cotswold sheep to adhd to his storybook cottage.

It took a full of 67 railway wagons to transport 475 tonnes of worldly from Foss Cross station to Brentford, wherever it was shipped to New Jersey and connected to Dearborn, Michigan.

While labour to rebuild the location was provided by Ford's mill workers, Mr Ford was keen to usage Gloucestershire craftsmen who knew however these buildings fitted together.

Stonemason Tom Troughton and carpenter William H. Ratcliffe, were sent to the USA to oversee rebuilding the house.

William's daughter-in-law, Maureen Ratcliffe, inactive lives a fewer miles distant from Chedworth.

"This was a large escapade for him, helium was sent successful a first-class compartment connected the RMS Homeric and helium stayed determination for six and a fractional months," she said.

"They were conscionable mean radical and they were connected this vessel eating caviar and each sorts.

"It was a immense occupation and a existent honour for him to spell retired there. His household was truly arrogant of the enactment helium did," said Mrs Ratcliffe.

From July to September 1930 the location was dilatory rebuilt. Henry Ford often dropped by to cheque connected their progress.

When the gathering was finished, Ford paid for Messrs Ratcliffe and Troughton to spell connected a two-week holiday, sending the agrarian craftsmen connected a sightseeing travel to the Niagara Falls.

Henry Ford paid the craftsmen handsomely.

With the wealth made from the trip, Mr Ratcliffe bought a portion of onshore successful Bourton-on-the-Water and built 2 woody bungalows for himself and his brother.

One of the houses was named "Greenfield" aft the attraction successful Michigan.

Now visited by millions each year, the Chedworth cottage is fashionable with Americans looking to research the Cotswolds successful a mounting person closer to home.

"We usage it to big day beverage successful the plot - and there's really a waiting database for that," said Mr Johnson.

It is besides said that Henry Ford wanted to acquisition the 15th-century parish religion of St Peter successful adjacent Winchcombe and the cottages astatine Arlington Row successful Bibury but section absorption prevented him.

Proof that, perhaps, wealth cannot bargain you everything.