John Keats's Hampstead house restored
Keats House in Hampstead has been restored to reflect its appearance during the poet's life and will display items such as the gold engagement ring he gave to his neighbour Fanny Brawne in 1820.
Keats lived in the semi-detached house for two years before his tuberculosis drove him to the warmer climate of Rome, where he died aged 25 in 1821.
He composed the famous poem Ode to a Nightingale under a plum tree in the front garden.
The Grade I listed property was deemed too "fusty" to serve as the set for a new film about Keats's romance with Miss Brawne, Bright Star, which was instead filmed at Hyde House in Luton. But producers visited Keats House to gain inspiration for props and took a copy of Miss Brawne's gold and almandine engagement ring.
Staff at the property hope the renovation will make it a more favourable location for future filming and expect visitor numbers to double when Bright Star is released in the Autumn.
Tim Harris, project manager, said: "I think there will be a real wow factor when people see what we have done here. Before the place was run down, we had problems with damp and many of the rooms were shut up, but now everything is open and it's completely transformed."
Analysis of traces of paint and scraps of wallpaper allowed staff to recreate the original appearance of each room in the house, with Keats's bedroom painted in pale pink.
Staff have also reproduced the unappealing pattern of the curtains around the poet's four-poster bed which tormented him as he lay suffering from tuberculosis before leaving for Rome. His death mask is displayed in the corner of the bedroom...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Keats lived in the semi-detached house for two years before his tuberculosis drove him to the warmer climate of Rome, where he died aged 25 in 1821.
He composed the famous poem Ode to a Nightingale under a plum tree in the front garden.
The Grade I listed property was deemed too "fusty" to serve as the set for a new film about Keats's romance with Miss Brawne, Bright Star, which was instead filmed at Hyde House in Luton. But producers visited Keats House to gain inspiration for props and took a copy of Miss Brawne's gold and almandine engagement ring.
Staff at the property hope the renovation will make it a more favourable location for future filming and expect visitor numbers to double when Bright Star is released in the Autumn.
Tim Harris, project manager, said: "I think there will be a real wow factor when people see what we have done here. Before the place was run down, we had problems with damp and many of the rooms were shut up, but now everything is open and it's completely transformed."
Analysis of traces of paint and scraps of wallpaper allowed staff to recreate the original appearance of each room in the house, with Keats's bedroom painted in pale pink.
Staff have also reproduced the unappealing pattern of the curtains around the poet's four-poster bed which tormented him as he lay suffering from tuberculosis before leaving for Rome. His death mask is displayed in the corner of the bedroom...