Leighton House Museum, the extraordinary artist studio house in Kensington, opened on 3rd April following an extensive £1.6 million refurbishment.

Located on the edge of Holland Park in Kensington, the house is one of the most remarkable buildings of the 19th century.  It is the former home and studio of the leading Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896).  Built to designs by George Aitchison, it was extended and embellished over a period of 30 years to create a private palace of art, reflecting the artist’s fascination with the Near East.

Now owned and funded by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Leighton House Museum had been closed to the public since November 2008.

The Arab Hall is the centrepiece of the house.  Designed to display Leighton's priceless collection of over a thousand Islamic tiles, mostly brought back from Damascus in Syria, the interior evokes his vision of the Orient.

The opulence continues through the other richly decorated interiors, with gilded ceilings and walls lined with peacock blue tiles by the ceramic artist William De Morgan.

On the first floor is Leighton's grand painting studio with its great north window, dome and apse.

The programme of refurbishment and restoration has been achieved by a close collaboration between architects Purcell Miller Tritton LLP and the museum’s curators, working to proven conservation standards with historic building specialists and skilled contractors.

Arabian ziggurats reinstated
The project, undertaken in phases, began on site in 2007 when external repairs were carried out to make walls, roofs and windows secure.  This phase saw the reinstatement of the exotic brick ‘ziggurats’ that ran around the Arab Hall and Silk Room parapets.  The original ziggurats had been removed in 1959 and their painstaking restoration used carefully detailed hand-made bricks to reform their original geometric shapes.

Historic interiors
The recently completed phase of refurbishment to the historic interiors began with the replacement of aged and inefficient electrical cabling and heating systems.  The rooms were then carefully conserved in preparation for the representation of Leighton’s original decoration, furnishing and historic lighting.  These schemes have now been reinstated and the museum collections are newly displayed within enhanced environmentally managed conditions.

“Our client’s desire was to bring the house back to Leighton’s architectural vision,” said Dante Vanoli, who was responsible for the project at Purcell Miller Tritton.  “Through new research and paint analysis we have endeavoured to recreate the unique character of Leighton’s decorative schemes within his ‘Private Palace of Art’.  We have revealed previously closed off rooms and restored lost architectural and decorative features such as fire surrounds, staircases, silk hangings and the Arab Hall’s spectacular gilded dome to understand how this marvellous building appeared and functioned at the time of Leighton’s death in 1896.”

Leighton’s collection returned
As a renowned Victorian artist, Lord Leighton acquired a fantastic collection of art and the re-opening of the museum will see the return of over 20 paintings which will hang in their original locations for the first time since his death.  Loans have been agreed from some of the most prestigious galleries in the country, including The National Gallery, The Tate and The National Portrait Gallery, amongst others.

A documentary film and photographic exhibition on the refurbishment process by Fredrique Cifuentes will be on show in the Winter Studio until 20th June.

Leighton House Museum, 12 Holland Park Road, London W14 8LZ

www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum.aspx