Robert Temple - Author of The Sphinx Mystery

My second cousin once removed,
Arthur Motch, Junior
, of New Richmond, Ohio, who was born November 23, 1915. His mother was Grace Budd Temple (born June 30, 1876), who married Arthur Motch, Senior. Grace was the daughter of my great-great-uncle Ira Temple, who was born August 17, 1834, married Sidney Ann Jones on January 7, 1864, at Newton, Ohio, and he died February 19, 1925, aged 91. The Motches still have his house on the hills above New Richmond as a 'dower house' on their land; it originally belonged to his father, my great-great-grandfather Thomas Dixon Temple, whose oil portrait hangs there. Until his death Arthur himself lived higher up the hill in a spectacular house of modern design, of which I show some pictures here. One of the most outstanding features of Arthur's domain is the situation of the swimming pool. If you stand on the diving board and look outwards, you have the optical illusion that the water of the pool continues in the distance in the form of the Ohio River, far below, as the eyeline at that precise point eliminates the trees in between. I have to say that of all the outdoor private pools I have ever seen, Arthur's is the most exquisitely situated and planned. His wife Margaret was a passionate gardener and horticulturalist, and the garden is perhaps her finest achievement and memorial. Margie was a wonderful person, as was Arthur, a true 'gentleman of the old school'.



© Robert Temple 2009-2022