A short history of Marine House at Beer and Steam Gallery
Marine House opened its doors for the first time in 1998. Its gestation was curious.
It was opened by Mike and Rosemary Lambert who had a holiday cottage in Beer for many years. Beer is an accessible spot for those wishing to escape from the hustle and bustle of London, the South East or the Midlands and South Wales for a weekend break or a holiday, or to relocate.
Mike owned a Kensington-based marketing company and Rosemary ran a travel company. They were tired of commuting and in truth were looking for an alternative. On a visit to Beer they noticed that Marine House was for sale. It was large, sad and decrepit, and after much deliberation, they took the plunge and bought it. The initial plan was to restore the building and create high quality holiday rental apartments above the retail space. On nearing completion their thoughts turned to the retail area which they initially thought they would rent.
Mike and Rosemary had always enjoyed and collected arts and crafts and in a moment of inspiration, some might say madness, they thought Beer and the retail space would make a good location for an art gallery. If all went well it would give them an exit strategy from London.
The local consensus and indeed the view of artists approached to be part of the initial launch was uniformly pessimistic, “An art gallery in Beer? That won’t work there!” The late Michael Morgan RI, perhaps the region’s most distinguished artist, was, like many, so bemused that he agreed to participate and became and remains one of our most celebrated artists.
Perhaps their timing was right, perhaps Beer really did need a gallery, perhaps Marine House had a special magic, but with the style both friendly and informal and the quality of the work exhibited high but sensibly priced, success was achieved from day one – a success which has continued to grow over the years.
Four years from launch they extended their range by opening Steam Gallery, also in Beer, enabling them to widen the selection with particular emphasis on Studio Glass and Sculptural Pottery.
Then to 2025, after almost 28 successful years, thoughts of retiring loomed and a succession plan unfolded. Mikes daughter, Caroline, joined the gallery team and in 2026, her husband, Jez, joined too.
And now, here we are. Mike and Rosemary have handed over to the next generation and are off on their travels, and the Galleries continue to prosper.
It’s been fun and exciting and continues to be so for us, our staff, our artists, art fair colleagues and friends and hopefully for you, our customers, too.
