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Inside The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards’ Redlands Country Home
In the quiet village of West Wittering, Sussex, stands a 15th-century moated manor that once echoed with the raw sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. Redlands, as it came to be known, wasn’t just a country home—it was a creative haven for Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones. The rustic charm of its old stone walls set the stage in 1968 for intimate recording sessions where the band laid down bluesy, unreleased gems like Still a Fool, Hold On, I’m Comingand Rock Me Baby, with Jimmy Miller behind the console and Glyn Johns engineering. These recordings, though never officially released, became part of the mystique surrounding Redlands.
Keith Richards originally purchased the estate in early 1966 for £20,000, and later added a nearby cottage for an additional £5,000. Though serene in appearance, Redlands saw its share of drama—it suffered major fire damage in 1973 and again in 1982. Thankfully, Keith was away during the latter incident.
Redlands: From Serendipitous Find to Infamous Name
Keith Richards didn’t set out to find Redlands—it found him. In Life, his autobiography, Keith recalls the chance encounter that led him to a moated 15th-century house in the Sussex countryside, a place that would quietly slip into Rolling Stones lore. Lost on a narrow country road, he turned through an unassuming gate and found himself face to face with a retired Royal Navy commodore. Keith asked for directions to Fishbourne, but before sending him on his way, the man casually asked, “Are you looking for a house to buy?”
What followed was immediate and instinctive. Richards later described it as love at first sight. Redlands wasn’t grand or flashy—it was thatched, low-key, and wrapped in water, with an air of isolation and stubborn individuality that suited him perfectly. It felt ancient but alive, eccentric without trying, a place that promised both refuge and mischief. Keith bought it soon after, and Redlands became more than a home; it was a retreat where music, friendships, and excess blurred together, far from the spotlight but never free from legend.
Of course, Redlands wouldn’t remain a private sanctuary for long. In 1967, the house became infamous after a police raid turned it into a symbol of the era’s clash between counterculture and authority. A decade later, the name resurfaced again in a darker, more ironic context. In 1977, Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg checked into Toronto’s Harbour Castle Hotel under the alias “Redlands”. By then, the name carried heavy baggage—no longer just a house, but a shorthand for scandal, survival, and the strange way places can follow you, no matter how far you roam.
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