Morris's Red House
Philip Speakmann Webb
1859-60
Red brick and tiling
Bexleyheath, Greater London
Photograph, caption, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009. With special thanks to Sally Roberson of the National Trust at Red House. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL.]
In this position in the L-shaped part of the building, and on the first floor, Morris's studio gets the sun from three sides, making it a wonderfully bright room in which to work. "A most cheerful place it was, with windows looking three ways and a little horizontal slip of a window over the door," wrote Georgiana Burne-Jones (qtd. in Red House 21). The ceilings have the same kind of pricked, geometrically designed, abstract pattern that Morris used elsewhere, for example in the hall, ground-floor passage and first-floor corridor. Even today it has a contemporary look about it.
Other Views
- Red House from the Well Courtyard
- Tall narrow window on the eastern front, with sloping sill
- Tiling in the garden porch near the well, with Morris's initial and motto ("Si Je Puis")
- Front elevation with main entrance
- Detail of decorated window at front
- Detail of window hoods on front elevation
- West front
- Oriel window, west front
- Close-up of oriel window, with catches for sunblind
- Close-up of dormer
- Side gate, leading from east to west front
- The stables
- Morris's weathervane
- Blue plaque on the garden wall
- Architectural Drawings for the Red House
- Details of the roof over the well
Discussions
- "Red House: Spatial Enclave of the Later Pre-Raphaelites."
- "Morris's Red House as a Palace of Art"
- Robert Furneaux Jordan on the historical importance of the Red House
Reference and Further Reading
Red House: Bexleyheath. Swindon: The National Trust, 2003.
Last modified 8 March 2009