Red House, Bexleyheath facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red House |
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View of Red House from the garden
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Arts and Crafts |
| Location | Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°27′20″N 0°7′49″E / 51.45556°N 0.13028°E |
| Completed | 1859 |
| Client | William Morris |
| Owner | National Trust |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
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| Other designers | Edward Burne-Jones |
Red House is a very important building in the Arts and Crafts movement. It is located in Bexleyheath, south-east London, England. The famous designer William Morris and architect Philip Webb worked together to design it in 1859.
Morris wanted Red House to be his family home. It was finished in 1860. After studying at the University of Oxford, Morris decided to build a country house. He wanted it to be close enough to central London for easy travel. He bought land in Upton, which was a village in Kent at the time.
Morris hired his friend Webb to help design and build the house. He used money he inherited from his family. Morris loved Medievalism and Neo-Gothic styles. These old styles are seen throughout the house's design. Red House was built using Morris's ideas about craftsmanship. It is an early example of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Many of Morris's friends visited Red House. These included the Pre-Raphaelite painters Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. They helped him decorate the house. Some of Burne-Jones's wall murals are still there today. While living at Red House, Morris helped start his design company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.. He also began creating his first wallpaper designs. His two daughters, Jenny and May, were born here.
Morris first planned to live in Red House forever. However, he found it too expensive to keep up. It also did not fit his lifestyle anymore. After five years, he moved his family to a flat in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. He then sold Red House.
Red House remained a private home from 1866 until 2002. During this time, some changes were made inside. In 1950, it became a Grade I listed building. This means it is a very important historic building. From 1952 to 1999, architect Edward Hollamby lived there. He worked hard to protect the house. In 1998, he started the Friends of Red House charity. In 2003, the National Trust bought the property. They have worked to preserve it. Today, it is a popular place for visitors. It also has a tea room and gift shop.
Contents
Who Was William Morris?
William Morris was born on March 24, 1834, in Walthamstow, Essex. He grew up in a rich family. His father died in 1847, but his family stayed wealthy. This was thanks to their shares in copper mines. In 1853, Morris started studying at Exeter College, Oxford. He focused on Classics.
At Oxford, he became very interested in Medieval history and architecture. He was inspired by Oxford's many old buildings. This interest was part of a bigger movement in Britain. This movement, called Medievalism, loved the Middle Ages. It rejected many ideas of the Victorian era. Morris believed the Middle Ages had strong values and a sense of community. He thought these were better than his own time.
He was greatly influenced by the writer John Ruskin. Ruskin believed in returning to hand-craftsmanship. He thought artisans should be seen as artists. He also believed art should be affordable and handmade. Morris agreed with these ideas.
Morris's Friends and Early Career
At Oxford, Morris became best friends with Edward Burne-Jones. They shared similar ideas and loved stories about King Arthur. After finishing his studies in 1856, Morris started training with architect George Edmund Street. There, he met Philip Webb, who also became a close friend.
Morris soon moved to Street's London office. In August 1856, he shared a flat in Bloomsbury with Burne-Jones. Morris loved London but disliked its pollution. He preferred country life. He became very interested in the Pre-Raphaelites. He soon met Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a leading Pre-Raphaelite painter. The three became close friends.
Through Rossetti, Morris met other artists and poets. In November 1856, Morris and Burne-Jones moved into a flat at No. 17 Red Lion Square. Morris designed furniture for their flat in a Medieval style. He painted Arthurian scenes on much of it. This was very different from popular art tastes.
In October 1857, Morris met Jane Burden. She came from a working-class family. He asked her to model for him. They started a relationship and got engaged in spring 1858. They married in Oxford on April 26, 1859. They then went on their honeymoon in Belgium. After marrying, Morris decided to build a house for them. He asked Webb, who was now an independent architect, to help design it.
Designing and Building Red House
Morris imagined Red House as more than just a home. He wanted it to be a place for his art. He wanted it in a rural area, but not too far from London. He chose Kent because it was his favorite county. He liked its mix of open spaces, hills, and rivers. He bought an orchard and a meadow in Upton village. He wanted his new home to be surrounded by apple and cherry trees. Morris was likely happy that Upton was near the path pilgrims took to Canterbury Cathedral in the Middle Ages. He could also visit the ruins of the Medieval Lesnes Abbey nearby.
While Red House was being built, Morris and his wife rented a place in London. They later moved closer to the building site. This allowed Morris to watch the construction. Webb and Morris worked together on the design. The National Trust calls it "a complex fusion of Morris's romantic utopianism and Webb's practical common sense." Red House was Webb's first project as an independent architect. It was also the only house Morris ever built. A contractor built the house, which took one year. It cost Morris about £4,000.
Unique Features of Red House
Red House had a unique design. It was L-shaped, with two stories and a high, red-tiled roof. The ground floor had a large hall, dining room, library, morning room, and kitchen. The first floor had the main living rooms, drawing room, studio, and bedrooms. The servants' rooms were larger than in most homes then. This showed Morris's early ideas about fair working conditions. These ideas later led him and Webb to become socialists.
The windows were placed to fit the rooms inside, not for outside looks. So, there were many different window types. These included tall casement windows and round-headed sash-windows. The house had no extra decorations. Its decorative parts were also structural, like the arches over the windows. Morris's biographer J.W. Mackail said the outside was "plain almost to severity." This was unusual for the time, as most buildings were heavily decorated. Rossetti called it "a real wonder of the age."
The architecture of Red House was inspired by 13th-century British design. Morris said the building was "very mediaeval in spirit." Historian E.P. Thompson said it tried to use old Gothic building methods for the 19th century. Later owners, Edward and Doris Hollamby, said it was an attempt to use Gothic ideas in home design without just copying old buildings.
Morris decorated the inside himself. He designed and created almost everything. Only a few items were bought ready-made, like Persian carpets and blue china. Many furniture pieces were specially designed by Webb. These included the oak dining table, chairs, and copper candlesticks. The plastered walls and ceilings had simple painted designs. Stained glass windows were installed, designed by Burne-Jones and Webb. Morris called the passage connecting the main hall to the back entrance "The Pilgrim's Rest." This was a nod to the Medieval pilgrims' route to Canterbury.
The garden was also unique. Morris wanted the house and garden designs to work together. The garden was divided into four small square areas by trellises with roses. Flower beds had lavender and rosemary. Lilies and sunflowers were also planted. White jasmine, roses, and honeysuckle grew up the house walls.
Life at Red House: 1860–1865
Morris and his wife moved into Red House in late summer 1860. He thought he would live there forever, but he only stayed for five years. His friends visited often. Burne-Jones and his wife, Georgiana Burne-Jones, spent Sundays there. Other regular visitors included Rossetti, Webb, and Ford Madox Brown. The friends enjoyed playing games like hide-and-seek. In the evenings, they sang songs around the piano.
Morris and Janey's two daughters were born at Red House. Jane Alice, known as "Jenny," was born in January 1861. Mary, known as "May," was born in March 1862. Morris was a caring father. His daughters later said they had wonderful childhoods. Morris also hired several servants to help with the house.
Morris continued to add to the house's interior and garden over the years. His friends often helped. There was no wallpaper in the house. Instead, walls were painted or covered with tapestries. Burne-Jones planned a mural for the staircase walls. It would show scenes from the Trojan War. Morris also started a painting on the hallway cupboard. It was based on a story about Sir Lancelot. The figures in the painting were Morris's friends.
In the dining room, Morris planned embroidered pictures of female heroines. These were based on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women. Jane and her sister Bessie made some of these. In the drawing room, Morris wanted a mural with scenes from the romance of Sir Degrevant. Burne-Jones painted three of these. They show Morris as king and Jane as queen. Above the fireplace, Morris wrote a Latin motto: "Ars longa vita brevis." This means "Life is short, but art endures."
While at Red House, in April 1861, Morris co-founded a decorative arts company. It was called Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.. He started it with six partners, including Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and Webb. They called themselves "the Firm." They wanted to bring back Ruskin's ideas about production. They aimed to make decoration a fine art again. They believed in affordability and anti-elitism.
The Firm made furniture, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals. Their stained glass windows were very popular. Many churches were being built or renovated then. The Firm's products became fashionable, especially after an exhibit in 1862. However, they faced challenges from older design companies.
The Firm did not make much money in its early years. Morris thought about moving the Firm's workshops to Upton. He also planned to build a second wing of Red House for the Burne-Jones family. Burne-Jones agreed, and they started planning. However, these plans were stopped. Burne-Jones decided not to move from London. His art career was growing, and most of his contacts were in the city. Morris was very disappointed.
Why Morris Left Red House
With the workshop plans cancelled, Morris saw problems with Red House. The house faced north, making it cold in winter. This made Morris's health issues worse. Its isolated location made it hard for doctors to visit. The three-mile carriage ride to the train station was also difficult. The daily commute to London took three to four hours.
Morris decided to move out of Red House and sell it. He moved his family to Queen Square in Bloomsbury in autumn 1865. Some furniture that was too hard to move was left behind. Some of these pieces are still at Red House today. Morris never visited Red House again. He said seeing it would be too emotional. However, his biographer Mackail said the five years Morris lived there were "probably the happiest and not the least fruitful of his life."
Red House After Morris
Morris could not find a buyer for Red House at first. He agreed to rent it to James Arnold Heathcote, a retired naval commander. Heathcote moved in during spring 1866. He bought some of Morris's furniture that was left in the house. After Heathcote's death, a wealthy stockbroker, Edmund Charlesworth, bought the house. He lived there from 1879 to 1889. The Charlesworth family decorated the studio with Morris's "Daisy" wallpaper, which is still there.
In 1889, Charlesworth sold Red House to Charles Holme. Holme owned it until 1903. He was a successful businessman. Holme admired Morris. In 1893, he founded the arts magazine The Studio at Red House. This magazine was important for the Arts and Crafts movement. The earliest photos of Red House are from Holme's time there. He also encouraged visitors to scratch their signatures into the window panes. He collected over one hundred signatures. These included May Morris and Georgina Burne-Jones. This tradition was continued by some later owners.
In 1903, Henry Muff bought the house. He was a draper. His son, Edward, later became a famous architect. The Muffs were involved in social causes. Maude Muff was elected to the local council in 1907. They introduced lighter colors inside the house. After Henry died, Maude continued to live there. In 1920, she rented the property to Arthur Sherwell, a former Member of Parliament. He later bought the house from Maude Muff.
In 1924, Sherwell sold Red House to Walter Scott Godfrey. He was a wine merchant. He made a big change to the house. He removed a wall to create a study and library. He also added a porthole window. He found the house too expensive to maintain. In 1927, an Australian doctor, Alfred Horsfall, bought the house. He lost much of his money in the 1930s stock market crash. He tried to sell the house in 1932 but failed.
Saving Red House: The Hollambys and National Trust
Horsfall tried to sell the house again in 1934. Many people feared the house would be torn down for new buildings. A group formed to save it and donate it to The National Trust. They tried to raise money to buy the house. Famous writers like Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells supported them. However, they could not raise enough money. May Morris was sad, saying, "That beautiful house is fated to have bad luck."
A local estate agent, Thomas Curtis Hills, bought the house in 1935. During World War II, the ground floor was used as an office. It helped people left homeless by The Blitz. After the war, the house was in poor condition. The Hills tried to sell it to the National Trust in 1950 but failed. The same year, it was named a Grade I listed building.
The house was empty for over a year. In 1952, two architects, Richard "Dick" Toms and Edward "Ted" Hollamby, bought it.
Both Toms and Hollamby worked for the London County Council. They were very interested in Morris and his ideas. They decided to share the house. They moved in with their families in 1952. They divided the rooms, using the old kitchen as a shared dining room. In 1954, another architect joined them. They began renovating the house. In 1957, the Toms moved out. They were replaced by Jean and David Macdonald. The Macdonalds and Hollambys legally owned half the property each. However, in 1964, the Macdonalds left, and the Hollambys became the sole owners.
In 1953, the new William Morris Society held its first meeting at Red House. After retiring in 1985, Ted Hollamby began opening the house to visitors. He offered guided tours once a month. As more people visited, Hollamby looked for a way to ensure public access in the future. In 1998, he helped create the Friends of Red House. This group helped maintain the house and gardens and gave tours. Hollamby died in 1999. His wife moved out in 2002.
Red House Today: The National Trust
After Doris Hollamby put the house up for sale, an anonymous person bought it. They then donated it to The National Trust. The Trust completed the purchase in 2003. The Friends of Red House continue to organize tours. The William Morris Society and Bexley Council also helped the Trust buy the building.
The National Trust has worked to restore the house to its original condition. The house is open to the public, but not every day. Guided tours must be booked in advance. Unguided visits are available for limited times. There is also a tea room and a gift shop.
In 2013, a previously unknown mural was found in Morris's bedroom. It showed five figures from the Book of Genesis. Experts believe it was a joint work by Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and Ford Madox Brown. The property manager called the mural "of international significance."
Images for kids
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Red House's hallway and Neo-Gothic staircase
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The settle in the drawing room, with Burne-Jones murals to either side.
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The Burne-Jones memorial depicting the marriage feast of Sir Degrevant.
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The well in the grounds of Red House
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Stained-glass window on the theme of "Love" at Red House
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The upstairs hallway at Red House
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Window detail in Red House
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The blue plaque erected outside the House
See also
In Spanish: Red House para niños
