According to the article, they were not there as groundkeeper or landscaper or anything practical lol. Even funnier, the earlier trend seems to have been to create an impression of someone living in their garden (like a garden gnome) before they actually went on and hired a real human being as accessoire for their garden. In that way I can totally see rich people one upping each other with their new ‘toy’.

In some early instances, hermits were simply represented or hinted-at, rather than personified; outside a folly or grotto, a small table and chair, reading glasses and a classical text might be placed suggesting that it was where a hermit lived. Later, suggestions of hermits were replaced with actual hermits – men hired for the sole purpose of inhabiting a small structure and functioning as any other garden ornament. Hermits would sometimes be asked to make themselves available to guests, answering questions and providing counsel. In some cases, the hermits would not communicate with visitors, functioning instead like a perpetual stage play or live diorama