Lamb House -

Nat'l Trust - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scripts/nthandbook.dll?ACTION=PROPERTY&propertyId=107

http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/lam1.htm

http://www.allaboutsussex.co.uk/default.asp?id=placestovisit276

From http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/houseesuss_lamb.htm

The Lamb family were the greatest power in Rye 150 years but the house they built is more famous as the home of the expatriate American novelist Henry James. The modest brick-fronted house was completed in 1723 by James Lamb and the same year he was chosen mayor for the first time.   In 1726 George I, returning from Hanover to open parliament, was driven ashore by a terrible storm and landed at Camber Sands.

James Lamb escorted the king to his house where the family entertained him for three days.  The visit cannot have been easy as the king spoke very little English and the Lambs knew no German.  On the first night Mrs. Lamb, who had to give up the best bedroom to the king, gave birth to a baby boy. The king acted as godfather at the christening of the Lamb's son who was, of course, given the name George.

In the 1860s the family sold Lamb House.  Thirty years later the American novelist and critic Henry James visited Rye and was captivated by Lamb House.  The Georgian house remained and remains little altered.  Its paneled rooms and good staircase with twisted balusters are all characteristic of the period.

Henry James took a lease for two years and in 1899 bought the property for £2,000.  When Henry James moved in he was 55 years old and already an established literary figure on both sides of the Atlantic.  He was to spend most of the last 18 years of his life at the house.  

Here he wrote the complex novels of his final period including The Awkward Age, The Wings of a Dove, The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl.  The writer dictated his work to his secretary in the green room on the first floor but in the summer months he preferred to use the charming pavilion in the garden.  (This pavilion, contemporary with the house, was destroyed by a bomb in 1940). 

Henry James entertained many eminent figures at Lamb House.  Amongst the visitors were H.G. Wells, Ford Maddox Ford, Rudyard Kipling, Max Beerbohm and Edith Wharton.

After James's death in 1916, Lamb House became the home of two other novelists, the brothers A.C. and E.F. Benson.  The neighborhood and society of Rye were to inspire E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia novels.

In 1950 Lamb House was presented to the National Trust by Mrs. Henry James Jr, the wife of Henry James's nephew.  The white-paneled Henry James Room displays some of the writer's furniture and part of his library.  There are also pictures of James, including the Sargent portraits, which show the novelist from boyhood to old age.

The walled garden has been much loved by all who lived there.  A rich variety of plants are found including a sweet gum on the central lawn, a trumpet creeper and many variety of roses.

August 1936 Homes & Garden Article & Photos
of Lamb House & E.F. Benson

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