I was very familiar with the Durrell Wildlife Park on the Channel Island of Jersey that naturalist-author Gerald Durrell (1925–1995) founded in 1959. Beautifully set in large grounds, the zoo is in Trinity, 8ks north of Saint Helier. Visitors can enjoy the important collection of endangered species, both native (eg voles and shrews) and imported (red squirrel and hedgehogs).
But the Durrell family did not seem to have a particular connection to Jersey. It was a passing suggestion from his first wife Jacquie that directed Gerald’s search for an animal sanctuary towards the Channel Islands. It turned out to be a great suggestion. Within an hour of landing in Jersey in the late 1950s, the beautiful Les Augres Manor had been secured for the purpose, its grounds providing the perfect venue.
Now I have to rethink the family history since they really did live on the Greek island of Corfu from 1935-39. Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) and his new wife Nancy were freethinkers whose uninhibited lifestyle would have been unwelcomed in 1930s England. In Corfu the couple thrived. Visiting writers like Henry Miller could take up residence in their home at Kalami, a former fisherman's cottage.
![]()
Corfu. off Greece's north west coast.
In an interview with Gerald’s second wife Dr Lee Durrell (1949– ), Country Life Travel 2015/16 suggested that the spirit of both Lawrence and Gerald Durrell lives on intensely in Corfu, nursed by a succession of locals, expats, wandering scholars and visiting naturalists. Lee explained that it was Lawrence and Nancy who initially urged the family to move to Corfu.
Gerald Durrell at 10 was the youngest sibling and he quickly began to collect and keep the local fauna as his pets. He was home-schooled during this time by various friends of his eldest brother Lawrence. Dr Theodore Stephanides, a friend of one of Gerald's tutors, became Durrell's greatest friend and mentor, and his ideas left a lasting impression on the young naturalist. Nancy was an artist and taught Gerald to draw, just as Lawrence encouraged Gerald's writing.
![]()
Gerald Durrell and animal friends
But the Durrell family did not seem to have a particular connection to Jersey. It was a passing suggestion from his first wife Jacquie that directed Gerald’s search for an animal sanctuary towards the Channel Islands. It turned out to be a great suggestion. Within an hour of landing in Jersey in the late 1950s, the beautiful Les Augres Manor had been secured for the purpose, its grounds providing the perfect venue.
Now I have to rethink the family history since they really did live on the Greek island of Corfu from 1935-39. Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) and his new wife Nancy were freethinkers whose uninhibited lifestyle would have been unwelcomed in 1930s England. In Corfu the couple thrived. Visiting writers like Henry Miller could take up residence in their home at Kalami, a former fisherman's cottage.
In an interview with Gerald’s second wife Dr Lee Durrell (1949– ), Country Life Travel 2015/16 suggested that the spirit of both Lawrence and Gerald Durrell lives on intensely in Corfu, nursed by a succession of locals, expats, wandering scholars and visiting naturalists. Lee explained that it was Lawrence and Nancy who initially urged the family to move to Corfu.
Gerald Durrell at 10 was the youngest sibling and he quickly began to collect and keep the local fauna as his pets. He was home-schooled during this time by various friends of his eldest brother Lawrence. Dr Theodore Stephanides, a friend of one of Gerald's tutors, became Durrell's greatest friend and mentor, and his ideas left a lasting impression on the young naturalist. Nancy was an artist and taught Gerald to draw, just as Lawrence encouraged Gerald's writing.
Corfu in 1936
The three grand houses occupied by the Durrells on Corfu are still private homes. 1] The first house, Villa Agazini, was renamed by Gerald as the Strawberry Pink Villa. It was too small for Lawrence’s many house guests, so the family moved to 2] the Daffodil Yellow Villa on the coast road, in the north of Corfu, where Lawrence could have his Bohemian friends to stay. Today this Venetian mansion is immaculate. When news came that a relative was about to descend on them, the family rapidly downsized, moving south of the town to 3] the Snow White Villa beyond the airport. It stands secluded on a hill thick with sentinel cypresses. These years were later the basis of the book My Family and Other Animals (his 6th book, published 1956), and then Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods.
The villa at Kalami, where Lawrence and Nancy moved in early 1936, is now a smart and elegant taverna with a lovely terrace on the sea. The modern naturalist can rent a flat above the taverna, and can cruise around a shop stocked with reprints of most of the Durrell books.
Corfu Old Town was designated a World Heritage Site in 2007. Like Venice it has alleys, not main roads. The Venetians built two monumental fortresses - the Old Fort retains British barracks and an imposing but empty British Naval Hospital. More handsome still is the very fine British Garrison Church, built as a Greek Doric Temple.
The family left Corfu in 1939, just before the outbreak of WW2. The subsequent German occupation of the island was ruthless. Spiros Americanos, the taxi driver who became the Durrells' guide and mentor in Corfu, missed them terribly. As did the neighbourhood children who had relied on the Durrells for bags of lollies. Alas the blissfully happy Corfu days were over, for both a very troubled Lawrence and a moderately troubled Gerald.
Today Snow White Villa belongs to an absentee landlord and there was talk over the years of acquiring this jungle-like retreat as a Durrell study centre. Fnally the Durrell School in Corfu really was established in 2002 by the Irish literary and music critic Richard Pine. The school runs a lively series of annual symposia, mostly on Lawrence Durrell themes: India, travel writing, translations and border lands that brought nations together. It also maintains a huge library of 4,500 books. Potential students might be interested to rent out the top floor of the Durrells’ old villa which features Lawrence’s desk, plus great water views.
![]()
In 1936 Lawrence and Nancy rented a fisherman’s cottage in the tiny village of Kalami in N.E Corfu. Spiro Amerikanos, the Durrell’s friend and chauffeur, found the house for them, to which they eventually added another floor.
Photo credit: The Durrell villas
The villa at Kalami, where Lawrence and Nancy moved in early 1936, is now a smart and elegant taverna with a lovely terrace on the sea. The modern naturalist can rent a flat above the taverna, and can cruise around a shop stocked with reprints of most of the Durrell books.
Corfu Old Town was designated a World Heritage Site in 2007. Like Venice it has alleys, not main roads. The Venetians built two monumental fortresses - the Old Fort retains British barracks and an imposing but empty British Naval Hospital. More handsome still is the very fine British Garrison Church, built as a Greek Doric Temple.
The family left Corfu in 1939, just before the outbreak of WW2. The subsequent German occupation of the island was ruthless. Spiros Americanos, the taxi driver who became the Durrells' guide and mentor in Corfu, missed them terribly. As did the neighbourhood children who had relied on the Durrells for bags of lollies. Alas the blissfully happy Corfu days were over, for both a very troubled Lawrence and a moderately troubled Gerald.
Today Snow White Villa belongs to an absentee landlord and there was talk over the years of acquiring this jungle-like retreat as a Durrell study centre. Fnally the Durrell School in Corfu really was established in 2002 by the Irish literary and music critic Richard Pine. The school runs a lively series of annual symposia, mostly on Lawrence Durrell themes: India, travel writing, translations and border lands that brought nations together. It also maintains a huge library of 4,500 books. Potential students might be interested to rent out the top floor of the Durrells’ old villa which features Lawrence’s desk, plus great water views.
Photo credit: The Durrell villas
Imagine a busy, blissful week of nature studies and walks and readings from My Family. Guests walk in Gerald’s footsteps, inspired by his descriptions of how ‘the myriad holes in each tree provided sanctuary to a dozen different creatures from Scops owls… to squirrel dormice’, or look into the roots for ‘centipedes as long as a pencil or toads with silvery skins blotched with green so they looked like those medieval maps of the world where the continents were all misshapen’. The 30 participants of all ages leap about ancient tracks, on the hills covered in yellow broom and Jerusalem sage. Almost every house and taverna has a glorious sea view as the coast road winds round a continuous series of enchanting coves.