Luxford House is a 16th-century

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

near

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. It is near the Luxford Farm. It was used by several rock musicians in the 1970s under the guidance of

Tony Stratton Smith Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...

History

Luxford house was constructed in the early 16th century as a smoke bay house. During the 1930s it was bought by

Sir Hugh Beaver Sir Hugh Eyre Campbell Beaver, KBE (4 May 1890 – 16 January 1967) was an English-South African civil engineer, industrialist, and founder of the ''Guinness World Records'' (then known as Guinness Book of Records). Biography Beaver spe ...

, former Ministry of Works director general and founder of the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, who renovated and extended it. It was Grade II listed on 26 November 1953. Following Beaver's death in 1967, ownership of the house passed to his daughter Cerise and son-in-law, Rev Christopher Lawson-Tancred. It was let to rock music manager Tony Stratton Smith who lived there through the early 1970s. He encouraged groups signed to his label,

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

, including

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

and

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commerc ...

, to rehearse there. Genesis wrote their 1971 album ''

Nursery Cryme ''Nursery Cryme'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed respo ...

'' at Luxford House that summer. A picture of Van der Graaf Generator taken at the house appeared on the inner gatefold sleeve of their 1971 album ''

Pawn Hearts ''Pawn Hearts'' is the fourth album by English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, released in October 1971 on Charisma Records. The original album features just three tracks, including the side-long suite "A Plague of Lighthouse Kee ...

'', and the cover of

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

's album ''

Stones In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

'' also uses a picture taken on the property—of a stone wall—as its cover.

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

recorded his 1974 album '' L.A. Turnaround'' at Luxford House, using the library as the live room, and made a promotional video featuring the premises. In December 2017, the property and estate was put up for sale.

Architecture

Luxford house is set in a estate with several lawns and gardens. The house features six bedrooms and a gym/studio constructed of Wealden stone. The exterior is timber-framed with plaster infilling, supported by a set of diagonal braces on the first floor and covered with a tile roof.

References

{{reflist, 30em Grade II listed buildings in East Sussex Grade II listed houses Country houses in East Sussex