Emery Walker’s House

When visitors step through the door at No 7 Hammersmith Terrace they are immediately struck by how much the house feels like a home; which is what is was until Elizabeth de Haas died and the Trust took it over in 1999. 

It is this homely feel and quirkiness that people appreciate and which distinguishes it from other Arts & Crafts house museums, where curators have often edited a family’s collection of furniture and brought in Arts & Crafts items.

The photographs in our Archive confirm that both Walker and Morris had an eclectic mix of belongings in their homes, which is why this interior is believed to be the most authentic Arts & Crafts home in Britain.

So yes, there are masses of marvellous Morris & Co textiles and wallpapers and furniture and other items designed by Philip Webb, but these mingle with 17th and 18th-century English furniture, Middle-Eastern rugs, and Chinese and Moroccan ceramics. Exactly how Arts & Crafts protagonists would have decorated their homes.

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7 Hammersmith Terrace is also thought to be one of the few houses in the world to have original Morris & Co wallpaper in nearly every room in the house. These hand blocked wallpapers date back to the 1920s and some are rare designs and colourways.

The narrow hallway is still furnished with Morris hangings, and, just visible beneath the rugs, is believed to be the only example of Morris lino surviving in its original domestic setting.

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The Walker’s original telephone room,  then kitchen, is now a small reception area and shop for visitors, but the rest of the public areas of the house are pretty much as they would have looked 100 years ago.

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Take a trip back in time and explore the rest of the house.