7 Hammersmith Terrace

7 Hammersmith Terrace is an historic house in the

The property is under the ownership of the Emery Walker Trust, a registered charity,^[2] who describe it as "the last authentic Arts and Crafts interior in Britain".^[3] The house may be visited through prebooked guided tours. Hammersmith Terrace is located immediately off the A4 road, west of Hammersmith Broadway.

History

The seventeen houses on Hammersmith Terrace were built c. 1755,

When Walker died in 1933, ownership of the property passed to his daughter Dorothy, who attempted to preserve the house and its contents. Upon her death in 1963, the house became the property of Dorothy's nurse-companion, Elizabeth de Hass. She followed Dorothy's attempts to preserve the house, which consequently remained in a similar state to when Walker was alive.[5] Before her death in 1999, de Hass approached experts at various institutions, with a view to setting up a trust to continue managing the property.^[7] The Emery Walker Trust was established in February 1999,^[7] using money raised by selling print items in Walker's private collection. This Trust subsequently gained ownership of the house.^[5]

Present day

The Emery Walker Trust opened the house to the public for the first time in April 2005.^[8] Initially, there were fears that financial constraints would prevent future openings,^[9] but the house offers prebooked guided tours to individuals and groups each summer since.^[10] The house has a blue plaque to commemorate the life of its former resident.^[11]

Interior

The house has an Arts and Crafts interior that has changed little since Walker resided at the property, owing to the preservation work of his daughter and her nurse-companion.^[8][12] In particular, the house and contents bear witness to Walker's friendship with the textile designer William Morris, who lived nearby. Walker and Morris became friends after Walker had first moved to Hammersmith Terrace, and the relationship between the families continued after Morris's death, with frequent visits to each other's homes.^[9] Morris's daughter May contributed several items to the Walker household after her father's death in 1896, whether given to Emery himself or to his daughter Dorothy when she inherited the property.^[5][8]

The linoleum in the entrance-way was a Morris design, and is the only known example of a Morris linoleum still in its original domestic setting.^[8] The property also features patterned wall-hangings and a blue flatweave rug from the Morris household, the latter bought by Dorothy at a house contents sale in 1939. There are also a few personal items belonging to Morris, including his spectacles and a lock of his hair.^[5]

Other items within the house also came from individuals connected with the Arts and Crafts movement. When the architect

Artworks include two oil paintings by Samuel Butler, better known as a novelist, of Soglio and Westminster School; Christmas Roses an oil by Anna Hornby; and an oil painting by Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton of his daughter Madeline.^[13]

References