- A very traditional English Weekend break
- Barnstaple and other North Devon Delights
- Leamington Spa – the oft-overlooked gem of Warwickshire
- Henley-in-Arden via Newbury and Banbury
- “Autumn colour at Winkworth” 2022
- Leighton House – a little gem in the crown of London Museums
- Happy return to Wells!
- One autumn morning at Stourhead
- Christmas Lights at Stourhead 2022
- Quantock Hills and 2 more Somerset charmers – Nether Stowey & Watchet
- Classy and colourful Cliveden
- Coombe Abbey – no ordinary hotel
- Hereford is a secret well worth discovering
- Ross-on-Wye – the birthplace of “Picturesque Tourism”
- Leominster or Ledbury?
- Whitchurch – where? Why?
- Battersea or Buckingham Palace?
- A+ for Ardencote and Alcester!
- Autumn swan song in November
- Long weekend in Warwickshire
- Longleat revisited 2024
At the last weekend when we visited my daughter and son-in-law in London, they gave us a surprise treat – tickets for the reopening of Leighton House Museum on 15 October 2022! It had been closed for a few years for a renovation costing £8 million. What a treat it was!
I have to confess that I had no idea what the museum was about or who Lord Leighton was, but the journey of discovery going round th house was as interesting as the house itself.
For the purpose of this piece, suffice it for me to say that Frederic Leighton was a celebrated British artist in the 19th century and was the only one to have been made a Lord.
Leighton House Museum
The outside appearance is rather unprepossessing and ordinary amongst some grand buildings in the neighbourhood. It gives no hint of the jaw-dropping beauty of some of the interiors!
The front of Leighton House Museum 
The back of Leighton House Museum
The back of the house and extension looked more stylish
Some of the rooms in the house look functional and commonplace rather than grand, while others are decidedly more glamorous.
Here is just a selection of the features that caught my eyes – not as an artist or even an art enthusiast, but as an everyday tourist!
The Staircase
The Staircase 
The Staircase
The Arab Hall
Lord Leighton was quoted as commenting that he had The Arab Hall built “for the sake of something beautiful to look at once in a while”. He certainly knew what he was about!
The extension that was built to accommodate The Arab Hall can be better seen from the back of the house. It lends an exotic look to the house and apparently caused a sensation when it was built in the late 1880’s.
The interiors of The Arab Hall are a joy to behold with gorgeous tiled walls and magnificent ceilings
The Arab Hall 
The Arab Hall 
The Arab Hall
The Arab Hall 
Leighton House Museum
The Drawing Room
The Drawing Room 
The Drawing Room
Silk Room and Bedroom
The Bedroom 
Silk Room 
The Bedroom
The Studio
The Studio leading to the Winter Studio
The new Spiral Staircase
The amazing spiral staircase is a work of art in itself!
The spiral staircase – looking down from the ground floor 
The spiral staircase – looking up from the ground floor
There’re plenty more paintings in the museum that would keep a real art connoisseur enthralled for hours! Even I found much to admire while wandering around for an hour
