Historic Lamb House, Home of Henry James, in Rye, East Sussex

Many artists and writers find inspiration in landscape or in the built environments of cities and towns. What attracts a writer to a given location?

A drawing of a house is what drew author Henry James  (1843-1916), an American who lived in Britain, to the the historic seaport town of Rye, in East Sussex, England. Enchanted by the drawing, he went in search of the house, and fell in love with it. That house was Lamb House, a modest Georgian building on a quiet crooked cobblestoned street.  A few years later he was able to lease it, and subsequently lived there for decades, finding it a refuge from the hustle and bustle and pressures of London.

Medieval Town of Rye

James called Rye “a russet Arcadia” and indeed the town’s reddish bricks give it a russet glow. The town has both produced and attracted many fiction writers. After James other writers lived at Lamb House, including several of my favorites: Rumer Godden (1907-98) and E.F. Benson (1867-1940). This house and town figure prominently in Benson’s Mapp and Lucia novels.

Rye is quite beautiful, touted as one of the prettiest medieval towns in England, with narrow, cobblestone streets; charming cottages, many with red roofs or thatch; plus many small intriguing shops: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Rye-East-Sussex/

Lamb House

The Lamb house, one of the town’s historic residences, is now owned by the National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lamb-house. It is located at the elbow of a street that wanders uphill to a nearby church. It’s only recently been opened to the public, and I came upon it quite by chance when visiting the town. Like many others in this tiny medieval village, the house was small but beautifully proportioned. It had just the air of elegance and grace I associate with James’s work.

I stood in the tiny bedroom looking out on the houses and gardens that James would have gazed upon, touched the very desk at which he wrote what are considered his masterpieces: Wings of a Dove, The Ambassadors, and The Golden Bowl.  What serendipity!