Refurbishment of Leighton House Museum

Restoring Leighton’s Palace of Art for the 21st Century

Phase 1

In the summer of 2007 extensive repairs were carried out to the exterior of Leighton House Museum including the redecoration of the external joinery to conform to the original colour scheme. This was the first of what is hoped will be three phases of work that will transform Leighton House Museum over the next few years.

Reinstatement of the ziggurats

In July and August 2008, the most distinctive feature of the exterior of Leighton House was reinstated.  These are the brick ziggurats that ran around the parapet wall of the Arab Hall and Silk Room, bringing the exoticism of the Arab Hall onto the exterior of the building.  Detailed by Leighton’s architect George Aitchison and derived from the stepped pyramid shape of temples found in ancient Mesopotamia, they remained in situ until 1959 when they were taken down and the parapet altered. The reinstatement of the ziggurats was made possible following a grant from Kensington and Chelsea Environmental Ltd.

Phase 2

Refurbishment and restoration of the historic house

The museum will be closing to the public from 31 October 2008 to facilitate Phase 2, a £1.3 million programme of refurbishment and restoration funded by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Recent condition surveys have revealed the need to completely re-wire the electrical services throughout the museum. The central heating system has not been upgraded since it was first installed over 60 years ago and does not provide the environmental conditions required for the museum’s collection of paintings. The fire detection systems are also in need of upgrading.

The disruption that these works will cause provides an opportunity to look again at the decoration and presentation of the interiors. New research and paint analysis has confirmed that Leighton’s original decorative schemes differed in several important respects from the current appearance of the interiors. The floors in the dining room and drawing room were painted red and blue respectively. The dome of the Arab Hall was gilded. The original floorboards on the first floor survive beneath modern flooring laid over them in the 1960s. Completing these works will restore the house to its original spectacular appearance, recreating Leighton’s private ‘Palace of Art’ as it appeared at the time of his death.

Phase 3

Remodelling the Perrin Wing, feasibility study

A feasibility study by BDP architects and commissioned by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is underway into the possible remodelling of the ‘Perrin Wing’ at the east end of the museum. These additions to the house were made long after Leighton died – first in the late 1920s with the construction of the Perrin Gallery and then in the mid 1950s with the in-filling of the space under Leighton’s Winter Studio to create a kitchen, store and public toilets. Of poor architectural quality, these elements do not provide the museum with the facilities and spaces that are desperately needed. The feasibility study will determine how they might best be altered and utilised to incorporate new reception, interpretation and exhibition spaces, full disabled access and better storage for the reserve collections.