There’ll be a point on the epic journey it takes to get to Red House when it seems you’ve come to the wrong place or turned the wrong way at the Bexleyheath Toby Carvery. But somewhere among the pebbledash and cul-de-sacs of deep south London suburbia you’ll find this fairytale red brick pile: the former home of artist, socialist and the brains behind all that flowery wallpaper, William Morris.
The National Trust-owned propery is full of Rapunzel-style turrets, sweet-smelling gardens and dazzling stained glass. The more you explore, the more secrets you discover like the hidden smiley face on the painted hallway ceiling and phenomenal gilded murals painted by Morris’s Pre-Raphaelite mates Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal and Edward Burne-Jones, while the garden features a striking centre-piece intended by Morris to be the social centre of the house.
If it all sounds a bit twee, bear in mind the house was essentialy an artists’ commune in its heyday, the place of Pre-Raphelite parties, drug taking and everything in between. Whether or not you’re an Arts and Crafts stan, a day trip here is a great chance to get up close to some rare work by iconic artists while escaping from the bustle of central London for a few hours. A win all round.
