Homes Antiques

THE LEIGHTON

HOUSE MUSEUM

In 1864 Leighton bought a plot of land in London’s

Holland Park on which to build a house and studio.

The architect was his friend George Aitchison who

designed a fairly plain exterior belying the richly

decorated rooms within. From 1869 a series of

extensions were added including the ambitious

Arab Hall decorated with a mixture of tiles

collected during trips to the Middle East and others

made ‘in a Persian style’ by William De Morgan. The

last addition was a picture gallery known as the

‘Silk Room’ added to house Leighton’s expanding

collection of art by his contemporaries. Between

2008 and 2010 the house underwent a £1.6m

refurbishment to return the interiors and decoration

to their former glory giving visitors an insight into

the splendour in which he lived as well as housing

some of the artist’s oils sculptures and drawings.

12 Holland Park Road London W14 8LZ.

020 7602 3316; leightonhouse.co.uk

TOP Leighton handles a maquette of An Athlete Wrestling with a Python while sitting in his
studio at his Holland Park house in 1890 ABOVE A view of the back of Leighton’s home – now the
Ted Spiegel; Corbis/Getty Images; Leighton House Museum; Mayall/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Will PryceLeighton House Museum – taken from the garden and showing the large studio window

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