Long Barn
Long Barn, located in the town of Sevenoaks Weald, Kent, is a Grade II* listed[1] property and the former home of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. The house is also notable for having famous residents such as Douglas Fairbanks and Charles Lindbergh at various times.
| Long Barn | |
|---|---|
 "reputedly the birthplace of William Caxton" | |
| Type | House |
| Location | Sevenoaks, Kent |
| Coordinates | 51.2339°N 0.185°E |
| Built | 14th-16th centuries |
| Architectural style(s) | Vernacular |
| Governing body | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Long Barn |
| Designated | 10 September 1954 |
| Reference no. | 1272861 |
  Location of Long Barn in Kent | |
History
Long Barn is thought to date in part from the mid-fourteenth century, at which time this substantial house was divided into farm workers' accommodations. By the nineteenth century it had been restored and extended by the addition of a long barn, hence the name of the house, which was moved to the site from the field below. Restoration work was started by the Thompsons and later continued by the diplomat Harold Nicolson and his wife, writer Vita Sackville-West, who lived there until 1931.
A formal garden was begun by Sackville-West and Nicolson when they bought the house in 1915. The garden at Long Barn, like their later garden at Sissinghurst, was a product of the couple's different tastes and temperaments. It was further developed by their friend Edwin Lutyens in 1925.[2]
Visitors
The Bloomsbury Group often met at Long Barn, and visitors included Virginia Woolf, Stephen Spender, Clive Bell, Lytton Strachey, E. M. Forster, Hugh Walpole, and others such as Roy Campbell, Rosamund Grosvenor (Vita's childhood lover), Violet Trefusis, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks.
After the kidnapping of their son, the American aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, the aviator and author Anne Morrow, rented the house from the Nicolsons. Their second child is remembered by the villagers as being watched over by an armed body guard while playing in the grounds.
Present day
Although the house is not open to the public, the gardens of Long Barn are opened periodically and during Christian Aid Week.
References
- "LONG BARN, Sevenoaks Weald - 1000937". Historic England. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- "Long Barn". Parks & Gardens. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
Further reading
- House & garden: a guide to the arts of living, page 141. Access Company, 1986.