Restoring Leighton’s palace of art

A major nineteenth-century museum is to be given a twenty-first-century upgrade thanks to the Kensington and Chelsea Council. Leighton House Museum, located on the edge of Holland Park, is to undergo a £1.3 million programme of refurbishment and restoration. “Leighton House is a fantastic museum but the building is in need of some care and attention” said Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environmental Management and Leisure.

“It’s a very popular attraction visited by residents, budding artists and tourists. By restoring theservices which maintain the fabric of the building we will help secure its future for at least another century to come. I very much look forward to seeing the changes and additions to the mhouse when it reopens in 2009”.

The restoration works will include: a complete re-wire of the electrical services; upgrading of the central heating system in order to create the right environmental conditions to preserve the museum’s paintings and the restoration of the original sumptuous decoration.

In July and August 2008, the most distinctive feature of the exterior of Leighton House will be reinstated. These are the brick ziggurats that ran around the parapet wall of the Arab Hall and Silk Room until they were removed in 1959. Their restoration will bring the exoticism of the Arab Hall onto the exterior of the building.

The completion of these projects will see the house returned closer to its original spectacular appearance than at any time in living memory, re-creating Leighton's 'Private Palace of Art.'

The museum will close on 31 October 2008 for 12 months.

Leighton House Museum is the former studio-house of the great Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830 to 1896). Located on the edge of London's Holland Park, the house is one of the most extraordinary buildings of the nineteenth century.

Leighton House is open daily except Tuesdays from 11am to 5.30pm. Except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day the house is open on bank holidays.

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

Leightonhouse.co.uk