The Leighton House Museum is the architectural equivalent of opening up a brown paper bag and finding a diamond inside. Frederic Leighton was a famous painter and he lived inside his work of art.
Don’t be put off by the photo of the front because this house will never win any awards for the outside. It’s not until you step through the door that you’ll understand what all the fuss is about because the downstairs is decorated with those oily-looking lapis lazuli tiles that shimmer like a nighttime rainbow.
The Arab Hall
The kind of words that first sprang to mind when I entered the hall were Sultan’s palace, Turkish bath and Arabian nights because it’s all peacock feathers, Persian carpets and marble columns carved out of a muddy-coloured storm. Everything is dim and dark and lined in gold. The only sound you can hear is the tinkling drip from an indoor fountain.
It’s truly unique, and well worth a visit.
If you enjoy this then try Sambourne House (you can walk it in 7 mins); Charles Dickens Museum (take a tube journey from Kensington Olympia to Russell Square) and Sir John Soane’s Museum (travel from Kensington Olympia to Holborn by underground)
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