If, like me, you have ever wondered just what an "Arts and Crafts" house is, or more specifically contains, then Standen can provide many of the answers.
Here we were, on the first sunny Friday afternoon of the "season" wondering just how best to make use of such an unexpectedly
pleasant afternoon. English
Heritage and National Trust guide books to hand, we were looking for somewhere local, nowhere more than forty-five minutes drive from
Brighton, and preferably that we had not previously visited. That criteria knocked out English Heritage properties at a stroke, at the same time, presenting us with a handful of National Trust ones.
With my leg not yet up to walking a big garden, such as Nymans or Sheffield Park, we plumped for a smaller property, a house and garden, which until picking up the guide book, neither of us had heard of.
A forty minute country drive from home brought us into the western suburbs of
East Grinstead and to "Standen".
If you do not know East Sussex
and specifically the East Grinstead area, Standen is not the easiest of country houses to find. From the A23, turn off at the top of Handcross Hill and follow the B2110 to the East. Approaching East Grinstead on this road, Standen is signposted on the familiar brown sign
posts. For those of you intent on honing your map
reading skills (or programming a GPS) the OS coordinates are TQ389 356.Driving up the narrow (single track) country lane approaching the house, you are given no clue as to what to expect upon arrival. A wooden
hut sits at the entrance to the property and grounds, where you will be greeted by a National Trust employee who will take the admission charge from you (details at the bottom), but not from us as we are card carrying members!
On this particularly fine mid-April Friday afternoon, we were not the only ones to have had the idea of visiting Standen. There is a long car park stretching down the side of the hill, with allocated staff and disabled spaces at the top, we drove down and down and finished up in an overflow field at the bottom of the hill. This car park would be a boggy nightmare on a wet day, or after heavy rain, and unless you have a four wheel drive I would advise against coming here in such conditions.
Having safely parked the car we had the long, steep walk back up the hill to the house. The car park runs down the eastern side of the property and as we climb the hill there are some fine views westwards across the gardens and to the South Downs and Ashdown
Forest beyond.
The unusually shaped house, attached as it is to estate workers cottages, forms two sides to an appealing little "village" green, called Goose Green, on the third side of which, adjacent to the drive, is located a converted barn where you will find the restaurant and information room. The general appearance standing here, observing the red tile hung and weather-boarded buildings complete with little leaded light windows, is rather of a picture book Sussex village.
Standen is not, nor was it ever intended to be, a "grand country" house.
It is deceptively large, but was designed originally as a country retreat for a prominent London solicitor, James Beale and his typically large late Victorian family. Beale was known as a highly practical and down to earth man, wealthy yes, but not wishing to show a display of conspicuous wealth in the design of this large house. He chose an architect who "spoke his own language", Philip Webb, a close friend and colleague of the renowned William Morris.
Webb was not a prolific architect or builder, he was a perfectionist and the work he did, he took his time over, making sure that it was carried out to his entire satisfaction. So it was to be at Standen.
The farm cottages were already here on the site and they were renovated first as he was to successfully integrate them into the overall design. The house was built with a sense of "permanency", it took him two years to quarry the
sandstone material, from the hillside at the back of the house, using it to build Standen which was completed in 1894. It was designed to blend into the steep hillside, rather than being a landmark upon it, whilst at the same time taking full advantage to gain the best of views from the
principalsouth west facing rooms.
THE HOUSE
This is a house of many surprises, the first of which occurs as you follow the signs to the house entrance passing under an archway which reveals a gravelled inner entrance
courtyard and the north front where you will enter the house, naturally enough, through the
front door.
The hall doubled as a music room and as designed turned out to be a rather dark and gloomy area, accentuated by the original dark red painted wood panelling. Webb was asked back to create more light, this he partly achieved by the addition of a bay window, but mostly by re-painting the whole area in white. This room gives you the first "flavour" of an "Arts and Crafts" interior, for decoration it relies on printed drapes, curtaining and plush upholstery fabrics, rather than richly ornamented ceilings and architectural features built into the rooms.
Of particular interest here, and throughout the house are the original electric
light fittings, modest, yet attractive in appearance. Rather than in many a grand country house, the visitor starts to feel that they could quite comfortably live at Standen.
From the hall, you enter the Billard Room. Despite its' name, this too is something of a multi-purpose room, incorporating library shelves and a very attractive leather settee inset into the far wall, with a curved alcove over the top of it. Cushions and window drapes have various William Morris patterns on them and once again provide relief and decoration for the otherwise all white room.
One of my favourite items in the whole house is on display here, 'Dobbin' the family
rocking horse. Given to the Beals' oldest daughter Amy in 1874, it was moved here from their
London house in 1901 for the grandchildren to play here in the Billiard room on during the day. It has recently been fully restored by the National Trust, although not "over-restored" - it has a great patina of age about it.
Behind the Billiard Room, the Conservatory is entered via a short corridor. It is hard to believe that this is a Victorian design, so modern in concept it feels in here. The Conservatory faces west, where the best views are to be seen. There are Victorian plants growing here, including bougainvillea, oleander and plumbego. Also of particular note is the extraordinary "Moorish" pierced metal 'mosque' lamp, which may well have been supplied by Liberties.
Several rooms linked into the Conservatory, today's visitor passes through it in order to enter the lovely Drawing Room. Largely
square in proportions, this being exaggerated by the white
cross beamed ceiling. Iin one corner is a separate alcove, providing a bright yet private seating area. Again, it is the drapes, carpet and wallpaper - from floor to picture rail height - that provide decoration in this room. All in Morris style, designed by Webb himself, the subdued greens, cream and
reds here provide a very restful ambience. Interestingly, the embroidered cushions in this room were all made by members of the Beale family, following the designs of Morris patterns. I certainly could very much picture myself "living" in such a room today, over one hundred years later. The extraordinary electric light fittings in this room were once again designed by Webb.
Having visited several other country houses recently, in comparison, Standen presents a wonderfully harmonious interior as you pass from room to room, none of which are gaudy or in any way over-decorated. This has been achieved largely by the detailed works of Webb who oversaw the whole project from the overall design to the detailed furnishings and fittings within. The Beale family shared his taste and let him get on with the job, nothing here stands out as being out of place.
Leaving the Drawing Room you enter the staircase hallway, again of simple, yet harmonious design with curved archways and elegant banisters.
The Beales' were a large family, upstairs were twelve bedrooms, not all of which are on display today. Plumbing in Victorian times was nowhere near as comprehensive as today, this was in its day, a modern house, and yet the family and their guests shared one bathroom and two toilets. Of course this was still the era when servants were plentiful, four of the bedrooms had dressing rooms attached, into which hip baths would be brought upon demand. There are contemporary examples of (very attractive) wash stands and hip baths on display in the three bedrooms and two dressing rooms which are accessible to the public.
Returning downstairs from the stairway hall we enter the
Dining Room. Predominantly green painted wooden panelling, another Morris trademark, the fireplace is the most notable feature of this room. As far as I am concerned, this fireplace, of all of Webb's work here at Standen, is the most outstanding. There is plenty else to look at in this warm family room too, including the 'Peacock and Dragon' curtains, a Morris original design, purchased in 1897 for the then princely sum of £35 and 8 shillings.
The last of the "family" rooms here to view is the Morning Room. This is another bright and spacious, predominantly white sitting room. It was mostly the preserve of the female members of the household.
So far I have made no mention of the paintings. That is not because they are not any good, but that they are contemporary with the house, rather than being priceless Old Masters or family heirlooms. Most are by unknown artists, some by members of the Beale family, thus very much stamping their own mark on this as being a cherished family house.
From the Morning room a corridor leads us through the service wing of the house. The main room on display here is the kitchen, which underwent full redecoration to the Beale's design in 2001. The contemporary cast iron range and kitchen table are both original to the house.
A door to the rear of the kitchen now leads the visitor through to the shop, which has been converted from the scullery, cooks pantry and a larder store. By National trust standards the shop is quite small and limited in its range of merchandise. Outside in the kitchen courtyard however you can purchase a range of Victorian style plants and ornamental pots. On the opposite side of the courtyard are to be found the sites only toilets, which we found were fresh smelling and clean.
THE GARDENS
There are extensive gardens to explore at Standen, a wonderful variety of styles at that. Talking to one of the garden custodians, we were staggered to hear that there are only two full time gardeners employed here. A team of volunteers apparently help out too.
On a fine day, you could quite happily spend the day wandering and exploring not only the gardens but the extensive woodland walks too. On this particular visit we passed on the woodland, but did view all of the various and lovely house gardens. For the keen photographer, there are opportunities aplenty for all sorts of shots from the gardens. Beautiful landscape, the gardens themselves and of course the architecture of the house can all be appreciated and photographed.
Closest to the house is the Quarry Garden, formed when the material (limestone) was dug out from the hillside to build the house. It was later landscaped and features steep winding steps, wooden bridges and a very attractive
water feature. In wet weather I would not advise full exploration of this particular area, indeed there are safety notices stating that the steep and stepped paths are slippery when wet.
There is a small wood and 'Sloping Lawn' to the north west of the house, whilst dropping away from it - affording an unobstructed view of the landscape from the Conservatory and terrace in front of it - is the 'South Lawn'. Steps lead down through the trees to the extraordinary Bamboo Garden, where last year the gardener discovered a swimming pool, entirely overgrown with bamboo. This is, as chance would have it, where we met and chatted with the garden custodian. She explained the discovery of the pool and water cascade beneath it.
Walking back to the car park, we pass the Croquet lawn, beneath which is situated an orchard. The beautifully tended Kitchen Garden and Lavender Lawn are
closest to the house and provide pedestrian exit back onto the car park.
I would have to regard Standen as a "hidden gem", a place that we had never heard of, nor in truth had we had on our 'to visit' list. It is a National Trust property to which we will certainly return later in the year, and a site that I would thoroughly recommend to anybody who lives in this area or who are holidaying in the East Sussex / West Kent areas. Even if, like me, the Arts and Crafts movement, is not of particular interest to you, there is still much to see and enjoy here……
……indeed, if you REALLY enjoy your visit, the National Trust can even hire you their holiday flat situated upstairs amongst some of the nine bedrooms not on display to the public. Apparently it is decorated in the same "Arts and Crafts" style as the rest of the house. Providing you do not mind rubbing shoulders with hundreds of visitors, with views like that, and situated in idyllic Sussex countryside this may well prove a tempting holiday proposition for the relatively well heeled. Contact Standen on the number below for details.
Standen can be found at:
West Hoathly Road,
East Grinstead,
West Sussex
RH19 4NE
Tel: 01342 323029
OPENING TIMES:
End March - End October 11.00am to 5.00pm - Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun
The Gardens, Shop and Restaurant are open at various other times during the winter, please call the property on the number above for details, or check the National Trust website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
ADMISSION CHARGES:
Adult £6.80,
Child £3.40,
Family £17.
Groups £5.80.
Garden only: £4, child £2.
GUIDE BOOK £5.00
Joint ticket with same day entry to Nymans Garden Wed to Fri: £11.50
AN OUTSTANDING ARTS AND CRAFTS HOUSE. 
Fab review.