8 Melbury Road, Holland Park, Kensington, West London, designed by Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912) and built in 1875-77 for the artist and illustrator Marcus Stone. Three-quarter and front views are shown above. Detached, and in Norman Shaw's typical Queen Anne style with high chimneys, gables, oriel windows, mullions, white-painted wood work and a fine pedimented entrance, it is Grade II* listed.The return elevations too are described in the list entry as being "of interest." To architectural historians Edward Jones and Christopher Woodward, "this is the Queen Anne style at its most fluent and memorable" (159).
Left: Stone in his studio, which covered the whole first floor and led into the glasshouse shown above left (click on this for more information). Right: Blue plaque to Stone. Another plaque, below it, tells us that the film director, Michael Powell, lived here 1951-1971.
Stone and Luke Fildes were the first to acquire plots of land in this area: the decision to approach Norman Shaw to design them was made when the two artists were on holiday together (see Dakers 162). Stone's house was completed first, and he moved in early in 1877, while the Fildes family took up residence in the autumn of the same year (see Dakers 168).
Related Material
- Luke Fildes's house on the other side of the road
- Melbury Road, Leighton House, and the Holland Park Artists' Houses
- Some Features of the Queen Anne/Domestic Revival Family Home
Photographs 2006 and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. These images may be used 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 a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Bibliography
8 Melbury Road: Official List Entry. Historic England. Web. 21 March 2026.
Dakers, Caroline. The Holland Park Circle. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999.
Jones, Edward, and Christopher Woodward. A Guide to the Architecture of London. 1983. London: Seven Dials, 2000.
Created 15 March 2006
Last modified 21 March 2026