Leslie Stephen was in the habit of hiking in Cornwall, and in the spring of 1881 he came across a house in St Ives, and took out a lease on it that September.
Although it had limited amenities, its main attraction was the view overlooking Porthminster Bay towards the Godrevy Lighthouse, which the young Virginia could see from the upper windows and which was to become the central figure in her novel To the Lighthouse (1927).
It was a large, square house, with a terraced garden, divided by hedges, sloping down toward the sea.
Each year between 1882 and 1894, from mid-July to mid-September, the Stephens leased Talland House as a summer residence.
Leslie Stephen, who referred to it as "a pocket-paradise", described it as "The pleasantest of my memories... refer to our summers, all of which were passed in Cornwall, especially to the thirteen summers (1882-1894) at St Ives.
There we bought the lease of Talland House: a small but roomy house, with a garden of an acre or two all up and down hill, with quaint little terraces divided by hedges of escallonia, a grape-house and kitchen-garden and a so-called ‘orchard’ beyond".
It was in Leslie's words, a place of "intense domestic happiness".
For the children it was the highlight of their year, Virginia Woolf later described a summer day in August 1890 in her diary (22 March 1921) with the cries of the children playing in the garden and the sound of the sea beyond, concluding that her life was "built on that, permeated by that: how much so I could never explain".
The family did not return following Julia's death in May 1895.

In both London and Cornwall, Julia was perpetually entertaining, and was notorious for her manipulation of her guests' lives, constantly matchmaking in the belief everyone should be married, the domestic equivalence of her philanthropy.
As her husband observed "My Julia was of course, though with all due reserve, a bit of a matchmaker".
While Cornwall was supposed to be a summer respite, Julia Stephen soon immersed herself in the work of caring for the sick and poor there, as well as in London.

Both at Hyde Park Gate and Talland House, the family mingled with much of the country's literary and artistic circles.
Frequent guests included literary figures such as Henry James and George Meredith, as well as James Russell Lowell, and the children were exposed to much more intellectual conversations than their mother's at Little Holland House.

Julia and Leslie Stephen had four children;
Vanessa "Nessa" (30 May 1879 – 1961), married Clive Bell
Thoby (9 September 1880 – 1906), founded Bloomsbury Group
Virginia "Jinny", "Ginia" (25 January 1882 – 1941), married Leonard Woolf
Adrian (27 October 1883 – 1948), married Karin Costelloe
Leslie Stephen was in the habit of hiking in Cornwall, and in the spring of 1881 he came across a house in St Ives, and took out a lease on it that September. Although it had limited amenities, its main attraction was the view overlooking Porthminster Bay towards the Godrevy Lighthouse, which the young Virginia could see from the upper windows and which was to become the central figure in her novel To the Lighthouse (1927). It was a large, square house, with a terraced garden, divided by hedges, sloping down toward the sea. Each year between 1882 and 1894, from mid-July to mid-September, the Stephens leased Talland House as a summer residence. Leslie Stephen, who referred to it as "a pocket-paradise", described it as "The pleasantest of my memories... refer to our summers, all of which were passed in Cornwall, especially to the thirteen summers (1882-1894) at St Ives. There we bought the lease of Talland House: a small but roomy house, with a garden of an acre or two all up and down hill, with quaint little terraces divided by hedges of escallonia, a grape-house and kitchen-garden and a so-called ‘orchard’ beyond". It was in Leslie's words, a place of "intense domestic happiness". For the children it was the highlight of their year, Virginia Woolf later described a summer day in August 1890 in her diary (22 March 1921) with the cries of the children playing in the garden and the sound of the sea beyond, concluding that her life was "built on that, permeated by that: how much so I could never explain". The family did not return following Julia's death in May 1895.
In both London and Cornwall, Julia was perpetually entertaining, and was notorious for her manipulation of her guests' lives, constantly matchmaking in the belief everyone should be married, the domestic equivalence of her philanthropy. As her husband observed "My Julia was of course, though with all due reserve, a bit of a matchmaker". While Cornwall was supposed to be a summer respite, Julia Stephen soon immersed herself in the work of caring for the sick and poor there, as well as in London. 
Both at Hyde Park Gate and Talland House, the family mingled with much of the country's literary and artistic circles. Frequent guests included literary figures such as Henry James and George Meredith, as well as James Russell Lowell, and the children were exposed to much more intellectual conversations than their mother's at Little Holland House.
Julia and Leslie Stephen had four children;
Vanessa "Nessa" (30 May 1879 – 1961), married Clive Bell
Thoby (9 September 1880 – 1906), founded Bloomsbury Group
Virginia "Jinny", "Ginia" (25 January 1882 – 1941), married Leonard Woolf
Adrian (27 October 1883 – 1948), married Karin Costelloe
Julia Stephen