In 1891, James Beale, a wealthy, middle-class Unitarian solicitor from Birmingham, commissioned architect Philip Webb to design a holiday home in the Sussex countryside. The Beale family remained sole owners of the property until Helen Beale, James and Margaret Beale’s last surviving child, bequeathed the estate to the National Trust in 1972.

Although Standen is recognised by architectural historians as a fine and complete example of Philip Webb’s Art and Crafts architecture of the period and is widely celebrated for its Morris & Co. wallpapers and furnishings, little has been written about how the family experienced the house, garden and estate, and the extent to which this shaped Standen’s later life under the National Trust.
This book fills the void, focusing on the Beales’ lived experience and how they collaborated with Philip Webb in the creation of Standen. Historic photographs and material from the family and estate archives, relating to both the property and its magnificent collection, reveal the extent to which the Beales’ appreciation for the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced the creation of Standen’s decorative interior, its gardens and the wider estate, from 1890 to the present day. Based on extensive new research, this lavishly illustrated publication weaves a rich historical context for Standen and its stories of human experience.