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The transition marked a new chapter for Farleys, which Miller’s husband, artist Roland Penrose, bought in 1949. Roland Penrose bought Farleys in 1949 as a place where Lee Miller could rest and recover after the Second World War. Interest in Miller’s work grew further after the 2023 film LEE and a major exhibition at Tate Britain in 2025-26.
The house became a meeting place for leading artists of the time, including Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Joan Miró, according to BAPLA. Lee Miller’s former family home at Farleys in Sussex became a charity after her son, Antony Penrose, gifted the entire property, including its galleries and surrounding site, to a newly formed organisation. The move was intended to protect the historic home and secure public access for decades to come. It later developed from a family home into one of the major centres for Surrealism in the UK. Antony Penrose gave the entirety of Farleys, including the house, galleries and wider site, to a newly formed charity. The transfer was intended to secure his childhood home for the public for decades to come. The former home belonged to photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller and Surrealist artist Roland Penrose. The house soon became a destination for leading artists of the century to meet, collaborate and create. Its visitors included Pablo Picasso, Leonora Carrington, Joan Miró, Dorothea Tanning, Man Ray and Henry Moore. The renewed international attention highlighted public interest in her former home and strengthened efforts to preserve the legacy of Miller and her contemporaries.
Farleys had evolved from a family home into a private company before becoming a charity. It described itself as one of the UK’s major centres for Surrealism.