Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears made The Red House their home in 1957, choosing this 17th-century Aldeburgh farmhouse as the place where work, friendship, music and daily life could come together. After winter renovations, it reopens on 2 April 2026, offering a particularly rich way into the lives they built here.
The Red House at a glance
- Reopening: 2 April 2026, following winter renovations
- The house: A Grade II 17th-century farmhouse, home to Britten and Pears from 1957
- What to explore: Rooms filled with their art, artefacts, furniture and furnishings, alongside five acres of gardens with original planting and sculptures from their collection
- Spring exhibitions: Before Life and After (2 April–30 June) and Spiritual Britten (2 April–1 November)
The house remains remarkably personal: rooms filled with the art, artefacts, furniture and furnishings collected by Britten and Pears give an intimate sense of their shared tastes and the people who passed through. Their home was shaped as much by hospitality and curiosity as by music, and that is what makes a visit feel less like a conventional museum stop than an encounter with a creative life rooted in this stretch of Suffolk.
Outside, five acres of gardens extend that feeling into the landscape. Once a setting for entertaining and garden games, they retain original planting and are dotted with sculptures from the couple’s collection. Winding paths lead through flowerbeds and the kitchen garden, with views opening out towards the Suffolk countryside. Garden tours this season will explore those spaces in more depth, while art tours turn attention to the works displayed inside the house.
The reopening year also brings two exhibitions that look beyond the familiar image of Britten at work. Before Life and After, running from 2 April to 30 June, centres on the friends, family and colleagues around him during the final three years of his life. It arrives in the year that marks 50 years since Britten’s death in December, considering those who cared for him and helped ensure that his music endured.
Alongside it, Spiritual Britten runs from 2 April to 1 November. Curated by Paul Edmondson, it explores the beliefs, passions and defining moments that informed Britten’s music. Sacred music was a constant in his career, and the exhibition considers the influence of a childhood shaped by Christian values and routines, despite Britten not being devout.
There are reasons to return as spring turns towards summer. Place Weekend, from 10 to 12 April, brings an archive display on Britten’s Suffolk connections, live music and house tours. Guided tours are held on Wednesdays throughout the season.
Spring and summer at The Red House
| When | What’s on |
|---|---|
| 2 April | The Red House reopens after winter renovations |
| 2 April–30 June | Before Life and After exhibition |
| 2 April–1 November | Spiritual Britten exhibition |
| Wednesdays throughout the season | Guided tours |
| 10–12 April | Place Weekend: archive display, live music and house tours |
| 12–28 June | Aldeburgh Festival activity, including Ending and beginning, an archive exhibition on Britten’s later years |
| 17 June | National Garden Scheme day |
| 18 June | Painting Britten: 100 Visions of the Music by Jane Mackay |
| 21 June | Sunrise Solstice Yoga on the lawn |
Whether the starting point is a favourite piece of music, an interest in mid-century art or simply an afternoon among the gardens, The Red House rewards curiosity. Britten and Pears’ home offers a close-up view of the people behind a remarkable body of work — and of the Suffolk place they chose to make their own.