Supporters of Charleston, the modernist house and studio near Firle in East Sussex that was home to the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, have launched a £15 million fundraising campaign to secure the building's future. The appeal aims to create a permanent endowment so the house, a gathering place of the Bloomsbury Group, is never again put at risk.

The campaign opened with a £1 million gift from Virginia Nicholson, Bell's granddaughter, and her husband William, while a further £2 million has been pledged in the wills of other supporters. Dame Pippa Harrison, chair of trustees, thanked the Nicholsons and the circle of legacy donors for leading the effort to save Charleston in perpetuity, recalling that 2,673 people came to the house's rescue during the pandemic and calling on those with deep pockets to come together to raise the full sum.

Visitor numbers have climbed in recent years, reaching more than 123,000 in 2025, but the building needs repairs and its sources of funding have been unstable, a weakness exposed when it was forced to close during Covid-19. Director and chief executive Nathaniel Hepburn said Charleston is now widely celebrated as a jewel in the cultural crown of the UK and was recently recognised by the Arts Council as a collection of national and international significance. With the 50th anniversary of the charity formed to save Charleston in 1980 approaching, he argued that a permanent endowment is the only way to keep it safe for generations to come.

The campaign coincides with renewed attention on Bell and Grant. Earlier this week a pen-and-biro portrait believed to be Grant's final depiction of Bell, made in 1961, came to light after being gifted to Charleston by an anonymous donor. It was found while preparations were under way for Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury, which opens at Tate Britain on 12 November with more than 300 works, including a restaging of the artists' studio relocated from Charleston.