There are 1,200 pieces in the artwork collection that Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) and Peter Pears (1910–1986) built up from the 1940s onwards, including a number of portraits of themselves, a strong collection of German art as well as paintings by the artist Mary Potter. Potter swapped houses with Britten in 1957 with a property, Crag House, overlooking the sea, where Britten lived from 1947 for a decade. Set away from the sea, Red House is a 17th Century farmhouse, and works from the art collection are hung in rooms of the house, their presentation based on photographs. The archive was built on top of the open air swimming pool Britten and Pears had in the garden. They lived in the house from 1957 for the rest of their lives.