National Trust - Standen House and Garden

We stopped by Standen House on a chilly November morning as we were visiting the local area. It's easy to find and was less than a 10-minute drive from East Grinstead.The house might be one of the more modern National Trust properties, but it doesn't make it any less charming. Built in the late 19th century, the characterful house and gardens are a lovely place to explore for a few hours. The landscaped gardens are gorgeous, and there's a nice woodland walk that loops around the estate which is worth exploring too.The house wasn't open during our visit, but from the outside it looked very interesting. There was also a Christmas trail running when we visited, which kids seemed to be really enjoying.We stopped by their cafe for a coffee, and although it was a bit pricey, the quality of the coffee was great.Overall, it was a fabulous place to visit for a few hours, taking in the beautiful Sussex countryside and the stunning house.

A nice house in East Grinstead, preserved by The National Trust. We arrived in the late afternoon roughly 1 hour before closing time and one of the staff member's kindly held the house open for us. The house is big, it's been designed as an artistic house with modern facilities. In some of the rooms you will a white sheet with a a drawing reflecting on what the people would be doing in the room and how the room would have been used. There is good signage through the grounds and easy access to other parts of the estate.The car park is at the other end of the site, as you drive in through the gates follow the road down pass the house to the end and you will see the open space car park. For anyone with a disability there is parking near to the house.We may visit the house again in the future, to spend more time and see it properly - Recommend!

Well worth a visit!First time to Standen House and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.The house is lovely and feels cosy rather than OTT opulence and I liked that about the place.The woodland walks are good with wonderful views across the valley.I'm sure people would say that there are other places with better gardens and they would be right however this place feels right!If you are in the area then definitely pop in and spend a few hours here.

Interesting time spent looking around the house. An homage to William Morris. Had a slow walk round gardens looking a sculpture exhibition. Something for all tastes. As usual the volunteers were extremely helpful and friendly. A good few hours.

An amazing house and grounds. Loads to see, no matter what the season or weather. Gorgeous mature trees and landscaped gardens, as usual with National Trust properties beautifully and expertly maintained. The design and imagination by the architect deserved applause.

A fabulous visit. The gardens are beautiful and the house lovely. Great to see exhibition of sketches, and see information and designs by William Morris.

Overall a very nice experience, out first visit. I felt the staff were a little on edge, we were rushed through at the beginning although we told them we hadn't been before and wanted to find out what to and what to see. It was quite a busy morning for them I think. The grounds are gorgeous and we really enjoyed the trail, which as it was our first time led us through the gardens beautifully. Lots of the kids to do and see and interact with. In contrast to our experience just entering the house. The lady there was a bit stand off-ish and we didn't feel welcome. We just stuck our heads into the first room and left. Understandably the rooms are precious and big backpacks could be problematic, be warned you'll be asked to carry or wear on your front. Not ideal when you've got young kids also to carry. We just didn't feel like we could enjoy viewing the house with a young family for fear they would touch something. There was a toy mouse hunt, the gmfiest being by the front door, which she also really told me daughter she isn't to touch. Perhaps not using toys would be a better option and children wouldn't be inclined to reach for them. Let me comment on the cafe, it was a bit of a disaster ;( I waited 25 minutes all told for four hot drinks, two of which had gone cold by the time the other two had been made, my flat white was a milky and undrinkable coffee flavoured drink! I could see they were busy and training but surely someone should have been supervising the staff. I think in general the service does tend to not be the fastest in national trust cafes but this really was a bit too long. I think next time we would definitely give the cafe a miss.

A beautiful place to experience autumn especially this past weekend with sunshine and blue skies. However, it was popular and the tea room had run out of soup, hotpot and cream for cream teas by 2pm! The house was also a bit packed, although I would like to see it with all the Christmas decorations. Pleasant, albeit muddy, estate walk through the woods but the route is a bit restricted due to ash die-back.

Without wishing to offend, just an old Victorian house with rather lovely gardens and grounds. I could not see anything of interest within the house itself, and the property is not in a good state of repair. Worth visiting should it be on your way somewhere, but unfortunately not worth making a trip for. Nice coffee shop.

My second visit to Standen. Very busy outside with lots of Halloween activities for the kids. The house was less busy and as lovely as ever. Love the arts and crafts style. The exhibition of Margaret Beales drawings added an interesting perspective of how the occupants lived too.