Our forthcoming visit, in March, was inspired by the engaging lecture given to us last October by Daniel Robbins, Senior Curator of Leighton House, which this year is celebrating 100 years since it first opened as a public museum.
The building was designed as a combined home/studio that would allow its owner, the eminent Victorian artist Frederic Lord Leighton, who was President of the Royal Academy for almost 20 years until his death in 1896, to showcase his own works and those of his contemporaries. It houses a dazzling selection of art treasures and exotic artefacts collected on his extensive travels in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The lavish Arab Hall with its gold mosaic frieze, magnificent tiles and fountain is a central feature of his 'private palace of art', which has been described as the product of an aesthetic imagination run wild.
Sambourne House, about ten minutes' walk away, was the home of Edward Linley Sambourne, chief cartoonist at Punch magazine and a renowned photographer. Unlike Leighton House, it was not purpose built as a studio house for a bachelor. It was a conventional Victorian terraced house that was adapted to the needs of a young family and an artist father. Despite the differences in their family circumstances and financial means, Leighton and Sambourne both shared the ambition to create a work-life environment that in itself would be a work of art and reflect their status. While Sambourne could not match the quality of Leighton's collections, he and his wife redecorated their house in the popular Aesthetic style. Lovingly restored, it is a fine example of a middle-class Victorian 'House Beautiful' and a time capsule of the late Victorian age. Please note, Sambourne House does not have a lift or step-free access.
For more information about Leighton House and Sambourne House, which are both owned and managed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and operated as public museums, follow this link.
A short film about 100 years of Leighton House, which was the subject of our fascinating AS lecture last October, can be viewed here.
For an introduction to the history of Sambourne House, click here.
A map showing the route from Leighton House to Sambourne house can be downloaded from the DOCUMENTS section below.
Planned programme for the day: TBC
08.50: Depart Horsham Station, change at Clapham Junction (please meet down on the platform at Horsham Station by 08.40)
09.59: Arrive Kensington Olympia, (10-minute walk to Leighton House)
10.15: Arrive Leighton House, where we divide into two groups
Till 11.00: Group 1 — tea/coffee at the De Morgan Café at Leighton House*; Group 2 — tea/coffee on way to Sambourne House
11.00–12.30: Guided tours start simultaneously at Leighton House and Sambourne House
12.30–14.00: Lunch break
14.00–15.30: Groups swap around for afternoon tour
* As the café at Leighton House is limited in size, it cannot guarantee 30 places. Unfortunately, Sambourne House does not have catering facilities but on our way there we can stop at a nearby café on Kensington High Street.
Cost: £47 pp. Trip includes two in-depth guided tours. Refreshments and lunch are not included. To reduce both travel time and costs, we will use public transport. Members are responsible for booking their own train tickets. As a guide, the return fare from Horsham costs just £15.10 with a Senior Railcard. Cheaper options may be available by splitting tickets or forming mini-groups. If you plan to stay on in London after the visit, please let the Visits Secretary know beforehand.
