Historic house museums are a rare and precious entity in many cities, whose cultural and architectural landscapes are constantly being updated, often eradicating the past. London, however, is lucky enough to have some amazing house museums, significant for the history of the spaces as well as what’s within them. This list uncovers the top five ‘memory museums’ open to the public in London. They all offer their visitors fascinating insights into this historic city, as well as the famous lives which helped shape it.
The final house on this list, designed and lived in by modernist architect Erno Goldfinger (whose name is rumoured to be the basis for Ian Fleming’s famous Bond villain due to the novelist’s opposition towards Goldfinger’s project, which involved the demolition of several cottages) is also the newest, but no less historically fascinating for it. There are many and varied reasons to drop by and visit: 2 Willow Road is one of the few Modernist homes in the UK open to the public, and housed within you can find new contemporary exhibitions, informative guides to its owner’s fascinating life, and a great modern art collection including works by Marcel Duchamp, Henry Moore, Bridget Riley and Max Ernst.
2 Willow Road, 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London NW3 1TH, UK
© Steve Cadman / Wikicommons
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