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The gardens at No. 7 Hammersmith Terrace
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The house at 7 Hammersmith Terrace is a fine example of an Arts and Crafts interior set in a Georgian house. Occupied until 1903 by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson, the bookbinder, it then became the home of Sir Emery Walker and his daughter Dorothy Walker. Sir Emery died in 1933 and Miss Walker continued to live in the house until her death in 1963 when she left the house and contents to her companion, Elizabeth de Haas. Miss de Haas lived in the house until her death in 1999 when in turn she bequeathed the house to the Emery Walker Trust.
The Trust's object is the 'advancement of the education of the public in arts and crafts design and architecture... by promoting... the study and appreciation of artists, craftsmen, designers and architects of the 19th and early 20th centuries and their works and the Arts and Crafts movement, and acquiring and thereafter conserving, maintaining and displaying 7 Hammersmith Terrace and its contents'. The acquisition of the house and contents offered the Trustees a unique opportunity to conduct a research programme in order to better understand and record the present condition of the building and its collections. Their intention is to create a permanent record, with a catalogue published both in book form and online, as part of this website. The Emery Walker Trust has decided that it must make a decision about the future of 7 Hammersmith Terrace by the end of 2005, given that its resources are limited and that it faces bankruptcy if it does not prepare for the future. To help it reach a decision it has in 2004 undertaken a consultation process, inviting visits and advice from bodies such as the National Trust and English Heritage, and from amenity societies that include the Victorian Society, the William Morris Society and the Decorative Arts Society. As part of this process, and consistent with the educational aims of its Trust deed, it has also decided to open the house to the public for four months during 2005. Further information on this can be found here. |
