Charleston House today

Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden >>

Today, you can see the artistic legacy left behind by Bell and Grant. It bears witness to over six decades of artistic intelligence.

Gaining inspiration from Post-Impressionists and Italian frescos, the pair literally painted and decorated the house. Doors, walls, even the furniture has been turned into a masterpiece of colour and design.

Not content with all this artistic endeavour, the rooms that can be visited in Charleston are also home to works by Picasso, Renoir, Sickert and Delacroix. There is also a collection of ceramics, murals, paintings and textiles by members of the Bloomsbury Group who visited Charleston House.

The garden was also turned into a delight of hedges, pathways and ponds littered with mosaics and statues. Being walled it gave seclusion for the artists who enjoyed summer days lounging around the orchard and painting. A far cry from the hen houses and vegetable gardens that were an obvious must for civilians during World War One.

Steeped in artistic enterprise and with a frisson of sexual intrigue Charleston House makes a excellent day out for everyone.

The Charleston Trust

After the deaths of Bell (1961) and Grant (1978) the future of Charleston House was put in doubt.

As the years took their toll, Grant had chosen to stay in his studio and the house began to suffer. And if it had not been for Quentin Bell and Angelica Garnett, children of Vanessa Bell, who founded the Charleston Trust, the house would probably not survived.

Curator Dr Wendy Hitchmough described it as a very difficult project due to the diversity of decoration in the house. Because the house represented sixty years of decoration, the restorers decided to choose an era to restore it to and that decade was the fifties.

You too can help by becoming a Friend of Charleston to preserve this fascinating building for generations to come. Simply contact The Charleston Trust. Details can be found on the Opening times page.

Charleston Festival

Not only does Charleston House run a comprehensive diary of exhibitions, events, and an exceptional education programme, every year Charleston holds a Festival for critics, writers, broadcasters, poets, film-makers and others involved with the arts.

Started in 1992 and running for several days (normally in May), the festival has grown into an international event.

The Charleston Festival is a stage for up-and-coming and established writers alike and past years have seen many celebrities including Melvyn Bragg, Juliet Stevenson, James Hamilton-Paterson and Clive James to name a few.

An un-missable event for anyone interested in contemporary work.