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William Morris’ former family home, by his friend, the architect Philip Webb, is the architectural embodiment of the British arts and crafts style
PICTURES: ANDREW BUTLER/THE NATIONAL TRUST PHOTOLIBRARY/ALAMY.COM, HISTORICA GRAPHICA COLLECTION/ HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL, NADIA MACKENZIE/NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’ This quote was famously spoken by William Morris, textile and print designer and leading figure of the arts and crafts movement that began in Britain in the late 19th century. It explains much about the architecture and interiors of Red House, the residence designed for Morris by his friend, architect Philip Webb. Located on the London-Kent border, this house is somehow both elegant and severe, richly decorated yet rarely ostentatious.
Morris and Webb met in 1856 while working in the office of gothic-revival architect George Edmund Street. Morris had intended to become an architect, before friends in the artistic circle known as the Pre-Raphaelites convinced him to pursue his talent for painting. He and Webb had ashared love of medieval buildings, so when Morris became engaged to model Jane Burden, the two men discussed where the couple would live when they were married. Before long, they had hatched a plan to build a residence that would be both a family home and a manifesto for their art and design ideals.
Completed in 1860, Red House has become synonymous with the work produced and displayed inside it. Almost every aspect of the interior was custom-made, with works by Morris and Jane as well as those in their creative milieu, which included Edward and Georgiana Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal. Art and pattern were applied to every room in textile wallhangings, colourful friezes, intricate
