Although a coastal village, the houses in Studland are mostly sited a few hundred metres inland. At the start of the twentieth century Sir Frederick Treves described the village as ""a medley of country lanes, lost among trees, with a few thatch-roofed cottages dotted about in a wild garden of brambles, ferns, and gorse."" He noted that Studland had ""no pretence to a quay"", but rather ""turns its face from the sea to bury it among its myrtles and fuchsia bushes."" He lamented the arrival of tourists and the construction of villas in the village however, commenting that ""The red brick epidemic ... has seized upon it mercilessly."