Roger Mears Architects

House, Chelsea: overview

This house, listed Grade II*, was built in 1717 in the grounds of King Henry VIII's Chelsea Manor. It was Dante Gabriel Rossetti's house and studio between 1862 and his death in 1882. Much altered over the centuries, it nonetheless retains most of its original panelling, an elegant 'geometric' staircase and fine wrought iron railings.

In the middle of the nineteenth century major structural alterations were made to create a large room at ground floor level (later to become Rosetti's studio) overlooking the garden. At the same time the front rooms at first and second floor levels were combined to make one room on each floor and a bay was added to the façade. In 1905 Lutyens added an attic storey and renewed the principal staircase, between ground and first floors. There is evidence of many other alterations and repairs, including some resulting from fire-bomb damage during the war; many of these repairs were poorly carried out, leaving a legacy of hidden problems.