The David Parr House is a preserved terraced house in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England, with interior decoration in the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

style, executed by its owner, David Parr, between 1886 and 1926. The house is open to the public for guided tours in small groups. David Parr was a working-class Victorian decorative artist who worked for the Cambridge firm of F. R. Leach & Sons. The firm was a contractor to leading Arts and Crafts and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architects and designers, and Parr worked on projects for clients such as

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott and worked with C. E. Kempe. He was in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career and was ...

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...

. In 1886 Parr purchased 186 Gwydir Street, a

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

off Mill Road in Cambridge. Over 40 years he decorated his own home in the style of the notable interiors he worked on for his employers. After Parr's death in 1927 his widow, and later his granddaughter, preserved the house interiors over the next 87 years. In 2014 the house was purchased by a charity established to ensure its continued preservation, and a major conservation programme was undertaken. The house opened to the public in May 2019 and became a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

listed building in 2020. At the same time, Leach's showroom at 3 St Mary's Passage was listed Grade II.

References

External links

* Historic house museums in Cambridgeshire Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridge Arts and Crafts architecture in England Gothic Revival architecture in Cambridgeshire History of Cambridge {{Cambridgeshire-struct-stub

See also

References

External links