William Morris & Red House
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
William Morris & Red House
National Trust, 2005
- : hbk
- Other Title
-
William Morris and Red House
Available at 8 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 154) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Red House occupies an extraordinary place in British architectural history. It was the first and only house that William Morris ever built. It was the first independent architectural commission from his friend, Philip Webb. The challenge of furnishing the house inspired Morris to found the design firm of Morris & Co.
Red House occupies an extraordinary place in British architectural history. It was the first and only house that William Morris ever built. It was the first independent architectural commission from his friend, Philip Webb. The challenge of furnishing the house inspired Morris to found the design firm of Morris & Co. It had a great influence on the Arts & Crafts Movement.
But it is also a house that captured William Morris's heart. He was only twenty-five when, in 1858 he decided to buy the site at Bexleyheath, just outside London, but in a rural Kentish setting. He had recently married Jane Burden, daughter of an Oxford ostler, whose particular beauty became inspiration for so much pre-Raphaelite art. With his young wife and his wealth he planned to produce a vision of earthly paradise at Red House. Rosetti described it as 'more a poem than a house', Morris called it 'our place of art', and when he was obliged to give it up for financial reasons in 1865, he resolved never to return. His biographer recorded that he could 'never set eyes on it again, confessing that the sight of it would be more than he could bear'.
Red House was saved from an uncertain future in January 2003 by the National Trust, and has already opened its doors. Visitors will be able to see some of the original furnishings but many are now at Kelmscott Manor, the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, the Victoria & Albert Museum and other locations. This book, however, will provide both the story of Red House and a 'virtual tour' to enable the reader to see how the house looked and functioned when William Morris, his family and friends lived there.
by "Nielsen BookData"