The blissful waterside home for sale that hosted the iconic 'Surrealists in Cornwall' party, where Man Ray, Lee Miller and Henry Moore let down their hair

In the summer of 1937, a group of Surrealist poets, writers and painters gathered at a beguiling house in Cornwall; among them were the painters Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst and Man Ray, the sculptor Henry Moore and his wife, the Belgian Surrealist poet and dealer Edouard Mesens and the American photographer and model Lee Miller, with whom Penrose had fallen in love and later married. The infamous house party that followed at Lambe Creek House — known as the ‘Surrealists in Cornwall’ — inspired exhibitions, books and films, including Carrington (1995) and Lee (2023), the latter based on the wartime exploits of Miller.

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Today, the ambience at Lambe Creek House is altogether more serene, as it comes to the market for the first time in 60 years, with Falmouth-based agent Jonathan Cunliffe quoting a guide price of £3m.

That buys you this idyllic, Grade II-listed house at Old Kea, near Truro, which stands in some six acres of lawns and woodland overlooking a tidal creek of the Truro river, a tributary of the Fal.

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Its exceptional waterside position offers sweeping views along the river to Malpas and the spires of Truro Cathedral, with a long drive that winds across farmland and down to the sleepy creek.

Its white-painted stone façade, draped in wisteria and framed by sash windows, highlights its elegant proportions and hints at the characterful interior, where a bright hallway rises to a galleried landing with barrel-vaulted ceilings.

The main reception rooms — drawing room, sitting room and games room — are arranged around a central kitchen/breakfast room. Upstairs, seven bedrooms include a vast, light-filled principal bedroom suite, together with a good-sized study and a family bathroom.

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Old outbuildings dotted throughout the grounds include a former farmworker’s cottage, a pavilion beside the upper lawn, a stable yard, garaging and stores. Pastureland to the north-east is divided into smaller paddocks and punctuated by majestic oaks and walnut trees. To the east lies the historic Tregothnan estate — a private sanctuary where the only sounds are those of the resident wildlife.

This enchanting waterside house was the treasured family home of Dr John Murrell, for many years the consultant haematologist at Treliske Hospital, Truro, and a renowned local yachtsman. He lived there until his death, aged 96, in October 2024, which was followed by that of his wife, Jane, shortly afterwards.

According to its Historic England listing, the house, said to have been an inn in the 18th century, underwent ‘a successful early-19th-century classical remodelling’ by an Admiral Temple. In the 1930s, the artist, historian and art collector Roland Penrose, whose grandfather made his fortune as a Quaker banker, leased Lambe Creek House, which soon became a haven for actors, writers and artists.

In 1936, Penrose was one of the organisers of the London International Surrealist Exhibition, which led to the establishment of the English Surrealist movement — hence the invitation to Carrington, Ernst, Ray et al, which gave this wonderful home its most famous moment.

Lambe Creek House is for sale at £3 million — see more details.