House & Family History: Ham Spray House is famous today as the home of Lytton Strachey, Dora Carrington, and Ralph Partridge, leaders of the Bloomsbury Group. In a complicated relationship, Carrington and Partridge (who married each other in 1921) were in a long-term ménage à trois with Strachey. In a fluid and very open relationship, the threesome also had other lovers, of both sexes, though they tended to be fellow members of the Bloomsbury Group. Using income from his successful 1918 book, “Eminent Victorians,” Strachey purchased Ham Spray in January of 1924 for £2,300 (approximately £410,000 in 2019 values using the labour value commodity index), making sure to register it in Partridge’s name for legal and propriety reasons. The trio shared a lively and creative home here, entertaining many members of the group, including E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Lady Ottoline Morrell, and John Maynard Keynes, among others. In 1928 Strachey wrote “Elizabeth and Essex,” followed by 1931’s “Portraits in Miniature,” and 1933’s “Characters and Commentaries” in the Library of Ham Spray House. This important room, which still contains the trompe l'oeil bookcase and fireplace tiles designed by Carrington, is one of the few spaces that maintains the decoration that Carrington, together with her Bloomsbury friends Duncan Grant, Henry Lamb, and Vanessa Bell created here in the early 20th century. On January 21, 1932 Strachey died of stomach cancer at Ham Spray and Carrington committed suicide at the house six weeks later. In 1933 Partridge married his lover, Frances Marshall, another Bloomsbury member, and lived here until his death in 1960.

House Listed: Grade II

Park Listed: Not Listed

Past Seat / Home of: Major Huth, until 1923. Ralph Partridge, 1924-60. Elwes family, mid-20th century. Robert Gray, late 20th century.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

House Open to Public: No

Historic Houses Member: No