In those illustrations, Peter Boston included items from his mother's home, The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Britain.
He furthered his architectural training at Liverpool University after World War II, and worked as an architect for the rest of his life, even after he began illustrating his mother's books.
[5] Amongst Boston's more notable designs are Black Swan House, built in London in 1975 for the Worshipful Company of Vintners but now razed;[2] Gilmerton Court on the Trumpington Road in Cambridge,[6] the Fisher Building at St. John's College, Cambridge[2][7] and the Mong Building at Sidney Sussex College.
[2] Boston's mother based the fictional character Tolly (short for Toseland) on her son Peter.
"[4] Mrs. Boston said that the sight of the toy, a favourite feature of the novels, would provoke adults to nostalgic tears.