In 1953, the newly founded William Morris Society held its inaugural meeting at the Red House, subsequently holding a garden party there in 1960 to commemorate its centenary. After his retirement in 1985, Ted Hollamby decided to open the House up to visitors, offering guided tours on one Sunday per month. As the number of those attending such tours grew, especially in the 1996 centenary of Morris' death, Hollamby began to search for a way of securing future public access. In 1998 he helped to establish the Friends of Red House, a group of individuals who were largely members of the Bexley Civic Society, and who helped to maintain the House and its gardens as well as give tours to visitors. Hollamby died in 1999, and his wife left Red House to move to a care home in 2002.