virginia wolff

In 1919 Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard, leading lights of the literary Bloomsbury Group, bought this modest weatherboarded house in the main street of Rodmell as a retreat from London life.

The large garden and beautiful view across the river Ouse to the hills beyond made up for some of the disadvantages of the house. These included a well as the only source of water and oil lamps for lighting.



By this time Virginia Woolf, one of the most innovative novelists of the 20th century, had completed her first two novels. However, the experimental work and in particular 'To the Lighthouse', 'The Waves' and 'Mrs Dalloway' which was to establish her reputation, was still in the future. Two years earlier Virginia and Leonard had founded the Hogarth Press at their home in Richmond. The company, whose list included the first published works of T.S. Eliot, was to make an outstanding contribution to literary life.



During their years at Monk's House the Woolfs entertained some of the best-known literary and artistic figures of the day. Among the visitors were Vita Sackville-West, Lytton Strachey, E.M. Forster, Maynard Keynes, T.S. Eliot and Roger Fry. Many were members of the Bloomsbury Group which Virginia and Vanessa founded with their brother Thoby.

With the privilege of living in Virginia Woolf’s old Sussex home comes the responsibility of preserving its charm for a steady stream of visitors. By Gabi Tubbs

Six years ago Jonathan and Caroline Zoob were settled in south-west London with no thought of moving, when a newspaper article caught their eye: 'How would you like to share your home with 7,000 visitors a year?’ They read on to discover that the National Trust was looking for new tenants for Monks House, the former country home of Leonard and Virginia Woolf. The tenants would live upstairs, look after the garden and open the house to the public twice a week. Jonathan, a keen gardener, and Caroline, an embroiderer and textile artist, were intrigued and within two days of sending off their CVs, were on their way to an interview at the house.



They headed for Rodmell, a village four miles south of Lewes, tucked away in a protected hollow at the foot of the South Downs. In the main street, next to the school house, they found the pretty weather-boarded cottage where the leading lights of the Bloomsbury group worked and entertained friends for two decades.



Until then, the Zoobs had been curious, but not entirely sure they wanted to give up their London life. But as they walked up the front path and saw the garden, they both fell instantly in love with the lush array of philadelphus, delphiniums and roses in full bloom. As they took in the orchard, vegetable plot and large lawn where the Woolfs and friends played bowls, they barely noticed the distinctly shabby living quarters.



The Zoobs’ experience echoed that of Virginia, who in 1919 found she was 'forced to yield to a profound pleasure at the size and shape and fertility and wildness of the garden’. When the Woolfs moved in, there was no running water and only oil lamps for lighting. The kitchen flooded on the first night, and still does if it rains heavily. Yet over the next 20 years the Woolfs entertained some of the best-known literary figures of the day, from Lytton Strachey to TS Eliot. All complained of the discomfort, but photographs indicate days spent companionably in the garden and house.



The Zoobs were told by the Trust that although structural changes were not permitted, they could decorate as they chose upstairs. Fortunately, Caroline’s taste is similar to Virginia’s spare, comfortable look. She repainted all the rooms in off-whites and pale grey-green to brighten things up. The large sitting-room, once Leonard’s bedroom, was then furnished with squishy sofas and chairs (three of which were rescued from the Woolfs’ garage) covered in antique French linen sheets. Along a grey, painted landing is the Zoobs’ small bedroom, dominated by a large bed with a headboard Caroline designed using an old shelf and some panelling. The bathroom next door is exactly as the Woolfs had it, with the rolltop bath that Eliot noted sloped to one side and in which Virginia used to go over her dialogue, overheard by the cook in the kitchen below.



From the landing a steep flight of wooden stairs leads to Caroline’s sewing room where tall shelves are stacked high with bundles of antique fabrics and boxes spilling over with ribbons and buttons. From these scraps of fabric Caroline creates her hand-stitched and embroidered patchwork samplers. The room has a view over the cottage garden; once the Woolfs’ informal sitting-room, it was their favourite place in the house.



The original formal sitting-room, dining-room and rustic kitchen are on the ground floor, and it is these rooms – which are more or less unchanged since the 1920s and 1930s – that are open to the public and not used by the Zoobs. At the far end of the garden, under the branches of a huge horse chestnut tree, is Virginia’s wooden writing lodge with views across to Mount Caburn.



The Zoobs had only a small plot in London so Jonathan was looking forward to the challenge at Monks House. After Leonard’s death in 1969, the garden (Virginia and Leonard’s ashes are buried there) was neglected for many years, but the Trust and previous tenants had made a start on replanting it in the informal, colourful style he preferred. Leonard made detailed notes of his plants and there are plenty of photographs and letters from which to draw inspiration. The layout is unchanged – different garden 'rooms’ are divided by flint walls and brick paths. The orchard was Leonard’s great love and some of his trees survive.



There are no themed borders or fashionable groupings but a painterly style with lots of contrasting, hot colours. There were many roses on Leonard’s list, yet only one remained in the borders, a glorious Fantin Latour. So Caroline added several large shrub roses and planted a deliciously scented old climber, Comtesse de Bouchard, around Virginia’s bedroom window. A vigorous clematis, Julia Correvon, adds more colour.



Although the Zoobs love the house, they never forget they are there to help preserve a piece of history. Undoubtedly it’s hard work, but it is also rewarding. 'It’s extraordinarily fulfilling to look after Monks House,’ Caroline says. 'And Virginia Woolf is so important to the visitors that you feel responsible for making sure it looks its best.