Standen is an

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

house located to the south of

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England. The house and its surrounding gardens belong to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and are open to the public. It is a Grade I

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 ...

House

Between 1891 and 1894

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Philip Webb, who was a friend of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, designed the house for a prosperous

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

solicitor, James Beale, his wife Margaret, and their family of seven children. The house is constructed in the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

en vernacular style with sandstone quarried from the estate and locally made bricks and tiles. The interior is decorated with Morris carpets, fabrics and wallpapers, with furnishings also by Morris, and the garden complements the beauty of the house. From the start the house had electric power, originally generated by a donkey engine in a shed by the old barn. The house still has its original electric light fittings, designed by W. A. S. Benson. After Beale's death in 1912, Margaret Beale continued to live at Standen. When she died in 1936, their unmarried daughter, Margaret, succeeded her, and after her death in 1947, Standen came into the possession of Helen, their youngest daughter, also unmarried. On Helen's death in 1972 the house passed by bequest to the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty.

Estate and garden

The estate was formed from three farms which the Beales purchased in 1890. The Beales started planting a garden almost immediately after they had purchased the land, using the site of an 18th-century garden and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

. In early 1891 trees were planted, a yew hedge established and the kitchen garden begun. The Beales consulted a London

landscape gardener Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

, G.B. Simpson, who drew up a layout that assumed that the new house would be located on the line of the existing terrace. However, Webb suggested that it rather be placed further into the hillside. The proposed planting schemes were characterised by strict geometrical layouts of colourful flowerbeds and shrubs. Webb preferred something else, however: a mixture of natural styles combining old-fashioned formality and compartmentalised gardens. Webb also designed a number of elements in the garden. The resulting Arts and Crafts garden used local materials for its formal elements, and loose plantings amongst yew hedges, trellis and

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

s, emphasising natural colour schemes and subtle combinations of colour and foliage.

Standen Wood

The National Trust acquired Standen Wood, originally part of the larger estate at the property, in 2001. The wood had been owned and managed as a nature reserve since the 1970s and is a haven for birds.

References

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External links

Standen information at the National TrustStanden House and Garden (YOSP)
Arts and Crafts architecture in England Gardens in West Sussex Country houses in West Sussex East Grinstead National Trust properties in West Sussex 1894 establishments in England Victorian era Historic house museums in West Sussex Nature reserves in West Sussex Houses decorated by Morris & Co. Philip Webb buildings Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex Grade I listed houses Houses completed in 1894