A House of Wonders

Just one minute’s walk from High Street Kensington is maybe the most beautiful museum in London – but few people know it’s there. From the outside, Leighton House resembles another three-storey Victorian villa built from red brick. Apart from the dome on one side – topped with a golden finial like an Ottoman mosque – there are no clue to its exceptional contents. However, step inside, and you will find the finest Ottoman interior in Britain.

Who created this unique building, and what’s the story behind its interior? Well, Frederic Leighton was born in Scarborough in 1830, the son of a wealthy doctor. He went to school in London and then travelled around Europe, learning to paint in Germany, Florence and Paris. Then, aged thirty, he moved to London and became an associate of the Royal Academy, eventually rising to the position of President in 1878.

Leighton is almost forgotten today, but he was among the most celebrated artists of the Victorian Era. Many of his paintings featured Biblical, classical and historical scenes, favouring romantic subjects and dramatic settings. According to reports, he was also handsome, charming and generous, with royal patrons and aristocratic friends.

While living in Paris, Leighton admired the studio homes of well-known French artists such as Eugene Delacroix and Ary Scheffer. Once his paintings were popular enough, he decided to build his own near Holland Park, which was then a neighbourhood favoured by artists. The house was designed by George Aitchison, who also worked on the interior and even some of the furniture.

Building started in 1866, and to begin with, the house was modest. Downstairs was a drawing room, breakfast room and hall; upstairs a bedroom and studio. But over the next three decades, the property was extended as Leighton’s vision became more ambitious. First, he constructed a winter studio, allowing him to work on even the foggiest London day. Next, he created the large hallway on the ground floor, and finally added a first-floor gallery where he could hang his own collection of art.

The interior was inspired by Leighton’s love of the Levant. Between his late thirties and early forties, he visited the region several times, including trips to Turkey, Syria and Egypt. These visits inspired a passion for Islamic palaces and mosques, and when Leighton returned from the Near East, he began to decorate his house in the Ottoman style.

Although photographs capture something of the splendour, Leighton House really has to be experienced in person. Downstairs, you have a suite of large rooms in the Oriental style, culminating in the gorgeous Arab Hall. This is a two-storey hallway lined with Damascus tiles to create dazzling patterns of turquoise blue. On the ceiling, Arabic calligraphy gives way to a gilded dome, inlaid with windows of stained glass. It also features mosaics and marbles from London craftsmen, and a frieze made in Venice and shipped to the site. It even features a pair of mashrabiya – the projecting windows of carved wooden latticework, found on the upper storeys of houses across the Islamic world. In the Middle East, these are designed to catch the breeze, but Leighton’s are sensibly lined with glass to keep in the heat.

The first floor contains a gallery lined in green silk, displaying pieces from Leighton’s collection. This includes work by Old Masters – predominantly Venetian painters of the seventeenth century – and contemporaries such as John Everett Millais and George Frederic Watts. It also displays many of his own sculptures and paintings, as well as sketches and studies made across his career, including scenes from his travels. What’s more, Leighton was a keen musician, and the gallery is the perfect venue for concerts and recitals.

On 24th January 1896, Leighton became the first painter to be given a peerage, becoming Baron Leighton of Stretton. The next day, he died of a heart attack and, because he had no wife or children, the contents of his house were sold off. However, thanks to a concerned neighbour, a committee was formed to rescue the collection and turn the property into a museum. More recently, the house has reopened after a long renovation, with a new wing providing space for an archive, visitor facilities and a contemporary exhibition space. In addition, the entrance hall and winter studio have been restored, aiming to transform Leighton House from ‘a hidden gem to a national treasure’. And, now that the building has been returned to its original splendour, it certainly deserves that title.