Debenham House (or Peacock House) at 8 Addison Road is a large detached house in the

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

district of Kensington and Chelsea, W14. Built in the Arts and Crafts style by the architect Halsey Ricardo, it is a

Grade I 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.

History

The house was designed in 1905 for department store owner Ernest Ridley Debenham. Debenham had previously lived in another house designed by Ricardo, at 57 Melbury Road in Holland Park. The house only became known as Debenham House after it was sold on Sir Ernest's death. From 1955 to 1965 the house was used by the London College of Dance and Drama. In the 1990s it housed the headquarters of Richmond Fellowship and was the venue for Royal Garden Parties.

Architecture

Debenham House combines an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

exterior with an

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 ...

interior. Both are richly decorated. The house is clad in

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

ware with green and blue Burmantofts bricks. Ricardo favoured polychromy for its design effects, but it also served a practical purpose, as the glazing resisted the aging effects of the polluted London air. The critic

Jonathan Meades Jonathan Turner Meades (born 21 January 1947) is an English writer and film-maker. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty television films, many for the BBC. He has described himself as a "cardinal of atheism" and i ...

described the house as "structurally stodgy – an alderman dressed as a hippy." The interior contains tiles designed by William De Morgan, a mosaic dome painted by Gaetano Meo, ceilings painted by Ernest Gimson and

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

by Edward Schroeder Prior. The decoration throughout is overwhelming. A domed hall has a gallery linking the upstairs rooms. Mosaics show members of the Debenham family, mixed with gods and goddesses from

classical mythology Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the m ...

. There are

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and tile fireplaces and

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

bookcases with decorated with

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

inserts in wood and

mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

. The light switches were made by the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft.

Filming location

The house has been used as a film location, including; '' The Wings of the Dove (1997 film)'', ''

Secret Ceremony ''Secret Ceremony'' is a 1968 British psychological horror thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum. Based on the Argentine novel ''Ceremonia secreta'' by Marco Denevi, the film follows ...

'', '' What the Butler Saw'', '' Spooks'', two episodes of ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

'', ''

Lord Edgware Dies ''Lord Edgware Dies'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of ''Thirt ...

'' and ''

Cards on the Table ''Cards on the Table'' is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition reta ...

'', '' Trottie True'' and the BBC's Mrs. Bradley Murder Mysteries.

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Commons category inline, Debenham House Houses completed in 1907 Arts and Crafts architecture in England Halsey Ricardo buildings Grade I listed houses in London Houses in Holland Park Art Nouveau architecture in London Art Nouveau houses History of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea