Dating back to 1870, the house, which boasts all of the Italianate features characteristic of the time, was home to cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne and his family. Linley was famed for his caricatures at the satirical and conservative magazine Punch, which include biting portraits of Oscar Wilde and Darwin. But he is also a celebrated illustrator of Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairytales and Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies. The writer was keen to use the emerging medium of photography to support him in his drawings, too. Catch a glimpse of some of the 15,000 photographs, cyanotypes and negatives that he left behind him on the walls of the historic house.
As he went on to sketch the politics and arts of his time, the cartoonist lent a wide variety of influences to 18 Stafford Terrace. Porcelains and a rich miscellany of objects from Japan, China and the Middle-East stand alongside Punch’s Fancy Portraits.
Buy an open access ticket and lose yourself in the gilded corridors or discover the full history on one of the museum's tours. Don't fancy a conventional guide through the museum? Book a Costumed Tour, and see the house's history brought to life by actors as based on Marion's Sambourne's diaries.
| What | 18 Stafford Terrace Museum |
| Where | 18 Stafford Terrace, 18 Stafford Terrace, London , W8 7BH | MAP |
| Nearest tube | High Street Kensington (underground) |
| When |
01 Feb 16 – 01 Jan 18, Open to the general public on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5.30pm, with tours from 11am to 12.15pm (booking required) and open access to the house from 2pm to 5.30pm. |
| Price | £ Open access: £7 I Concessions £5 II Conventional and Costumed Tours £10 I Concessions £8 |
| Website | Click here for more information |
