Philip Webb at Red House and Standen, by Tessa Wild (RECORDING)

Two famous houses at opposite ends of Philip Webb’s career are now owned by the National Trust: Red House at Bexleyheath, designed for William and Jane Morris in 1858–59, and Standen, near East Grinstead in West Sussex, designed for a London solicitor, James S. Beale and his wife, Margaret, in 1891. Their history encompasses not only the development of one of England’s most influential domestic architects but also the story of the Arts and Crafts movement over a generation.

Tessa Wild was a curator for the National Trust for seventeen years, with responsibility for Red House from 2002 to 2016. Her book William Morris and his Palace of Art: Architecture, Interiors and Design at Red House was published in 2018. She is working on a book on Standen.