Leighton House London

There are treasures to discover in every room of Leighton House, the home and studio of Victorian artist Frederic Leighton: paintings, ceramics, tapestries, books… However, the domed Arab Hall – a glittering chamber inspired by the inside of the Castello della Zisa in Palermo – is what most visitors come for. Decorated from floor to ceiling with mosaics, marble columns, and Middle Eastern tiles, it is pure Orientalist fantasy. Other highlights include the Silk Room – a sumptuous gallery space where Leighton hung paintings given to him by artistic contemporaries – and the newly restored Winter Studio.

Leighton began building the house in the 1860s with the help of renowned architect George Aitchison, but it was a project that would consume him right up until his death in 1896. Extensions were added as the artist traveled more and his collection of art, textiles, and pottery expanded, and at the same time other purpose-built studio houses began to pop up around it. This artists’ colony became known as the Holland Park Circle.

One other such property – Sambourne House in nearby Stafford Terrace – is also open to the public as a museum, and visitors can buy a joint ticket to get discounted entry to both. Tickets to Leighton House are sold on a ‘pay what you want’ basis on the first Monday of every month, and anyone with a National Art Pass can enter for free all year round.