Charleston was the home and country meeting place of the writers, painters and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group. The interior was painted by the artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, and together with their collection forms a unique example of their decorative style. Today, as an internationally-renowned museum, the house welcomes over 23,000 visitors a year and a further 12,000 take part in Charleston's innovative public programme of workshops, talks, festivals and other events.

As grand-daughter of Vanessa Bell, Virginia Nicholson spent her childhood holidays at Charleston:

“For me, Charleston was a holiday house. Until I was eleven our family spent part of every summer there with my grandparents and Duncan Grant. Duncan and Vanessa both painted my portrait in the studio, the housekeeper Grace Higgens allowed us to scrape out the bowl when she made rock buns, and we took her dog Blotto for walks on the Downs.

“The house was always a place of uninhibited, messy creativity. There was always paint, clay, paper, glue and matches to play with. I grew up believing Art was something everyone could do.

“I was also brought up to accept much of what Bloomsbury stands for: tolerance, reason, freedom of speech, non-violence, equality, friendship. As I tried to show in my book Among the Bohemians, I continue to admire many of the values represented by my grandparents’ generation, and I believe them to have been pioneers. I think that Vanessa Bell, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Roger Fry, Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey and their associates were in many ways ahead of their time, and in certain respects the world has still not caught up with their ideas.

"Virginia Woolf died many years before I was born, but I am proud that my parents named me in memory of my great-aunt, and that I have continued in the family tradition of becoming a writer.
 
“Today, the vitality of Charleston as an organization gives me confidence and hope. I believe my grandparents and their friends would have been astonished, but also delighted, to see how the house they created has been reborn, and how it continues to inspire the visitors who come here.”

Virginia has served as a Trustee of Charleston since 1989, and is now the Trust's Deputy Chairman. She is a regular contributor to Charleston's newsletter, Canvas, and also plays an active role in Charleston's May Festival.