Art and music had a place in the Britt household. Britt had trained as an itinerant artist in Switzerland and while in Southern Oregon painted landscapes and portraits for his own pleasure. Little is known about Britt's musical abilities, but he did encourage the musical talents of his children. His sons sang with a singing group on summer evenings when they were boys, and Mollie played the beautifully carved Steinway piano that her father bought for her when she was twelve. A 1916 newspaper article reminisced about garden concerts Britt once enjoyed from his veranda. “The porch is a large one, and, of Sunday afternoons years ago, the city band would play and friends of old Peter Britt would sit out under the trees and enjoy the music and the cool winds that stole in from the sea to greet the magnolias and the jasmine that bloomed in the yard."
PHOTO: SOHS B180, photo of oil painting by Peter Britt
