Tags
Decoration, Georgian, Heritage, History, House, interior, London, Museum, Spitalfields
If you haven’t heard of Number 4 Princelet Street in Spitalfields, it’s something like a miraculous time capsule – the early Georgian merchant’s house in a heritage district of London has been virtually untouched since its construction in the 1720s. The fact that the house maintains its decrepit character is good cause for others’ fascination and recirculation of images of its interior.
The brick and timber house was built by carpenter Samuel Warrell (who also helped build Christchurch, Spitalfields) on an estate owned by Wood & Michel (a legal partnership). Although the first tenant in 1724 was a brewer, Ben Truman, the decoration and interior features are typical of houses owned by wealthier silk merchants who were a driving force of local industry at the time. Also, the servants’ quarters on the third floor were expanded at some point to accommodate silk weaving, likely as the economy declined and the house had to be used for work as well as living. A good video on the history of the house can be found at The Open University.
Most of the rooms are paneled with wood, which would have been a modern ‘easy clean’ interior in the early 18th century. There is more than a century between the Gorsline House in Prince Edward County and 4 Princelet Street in Spitalfields, but there is something familiar about the treatment of their interiors. I’m especially fond of the weathered flooring throughout the Spitalfields house – I just wish there was more of it in the Gorsline.
Although the Princelet Street house is in an urban centre, it’s surprisingly rustic by contemporary standards. The surfaces and ornamentation are relatively simple. I know that living in a museum/ruin isn’t practical, but the luxurious decay speaks to my inner romantic. (I could also get away without scrubbing the floors as often as they should be).
I particularly love this bathroom. Unfortunately we don’t have this kind of space at the Gorsline house but the rustic flooring is there, and R is aiming for similar white plumbing fixtures. The nickel radiator/towel warmer is a great heating solution, but we don’t have space for that either. I also like the soft gray painted paneling.
The images below are by no means a complete record of the house, but they are some of my favorite spaces. Enjoy.