Leighton House

Studio house of the painter Frederic Leighton with a golden tiled Arab Hall and a mosaic.

75 min££

Frederic Leighton had his house built as a stage for his art, with a large studio on the first floor. Its centrepiece is the Arab Hall, with tiles from Damascus and the Middle East, a fountain in the middle and a golden mosaic frieze. The house has been extensively restored in recent years. The Design Museum on Kensington High Street is only a few minutes’ walk away.

Leighton House — Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Background

Leighton House is an historic house in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The building was the home of wealthy Victorian painter, and President of the Royal Academy, Frederic Leighton (1830–1896), notable for the popular Flaming June painting. Leighton commissioned George Aitchison to build him a combined home and studio, to which later was added a qa'a (or "Arab Hall") which incorporated tiles and other elements purchased in the Near East during Leighton's travels. The resulting building, completed between 1866 and 1895 on the privately owned Ilchester Estate, is now Grade II* listed. It is noted for its elaborate Orientalist and aesthetic interiors, and is open to the public as both an historic house and an art museum.

From Wikipedia: “Leighton House”, licence CC BY-SA 4.0

Walk on from here

Three places nearby, in walking order.

·
Leighton House
6 min walk1
Kyoto Garden, Holland ParkJapanese garden with a waterfall, koi pond and free-roaming peacocks in Holland Park.
7 min walk2
The Windsor CastleOld pub on Campden Hill with several small wood-panelled rooms and a garden.

Nearby

Kyoto Garden, Holland Park

40 min · free

From 7.30 am until 30 min before dusk (unverified)

Japanese garden with a waterfall, koi pond and free-roaming peacocks in Holland Park.

In autumn the maples turn red. Combines well with Notting Hill, about 15 minutes on foot.

All places in London

Links marked * are partner links: if you book there we earn a commission, your price stays the same.

All of it in the app, as a plan from your arrival

Traceflap turns arrival, departure, opening hours and weather into a day plan and accompanies the whole trip live.

Traceflap for iPhone

Sources: Selection and texts: Traceflap. Hours and prices from the official websites, as of 21 Oct 2026. Coordinates: Wikidata (CC0), some venues © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). No guarantee, please check before visiting. Map: OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence with each picture.