The Dennis Severs House: A Still-Life Drama
By Grayson Brewer
Nestled in the heart of Spitalfields, stepping into the Dennis Severs house immediately feels like being transported back in time. The Grade II listed Georgian townhouse, located at 18 Folgate Street, doubles as an exhibition and a theatrical experience. Dennis Severs grew up in southern California and moved to London shortly after graduating from high school in 1967, describing his experience with the city as ‘love at first sight’. In 1979 he bought the house in a derelict state, saved by the Spitalfields Trust. Growing up inspired by historical dramas on television, Severs took on the house as an art project of his own which would go on to become his life’s work. He reconfigured it to tell the story of the imaginary Jervis family, Huguenot silk weavers who had lived in the house since it was built in 1724. For nearly twenty years, Severs opened the house to visitors and hosted tours. He had a memorised script and would lead visitors throughout the house, each room telling a different story. Before his death in 1999, Severs sold the house and all of its contents to the Spitalfields Trust, who still maintain it today. His legacy lives on with guided and self-guided tours available, and some who knew Dennis personally are now involved as trustees.
Having visited the Dennis Severs house twice—once on a sunny summer day and more on a winter evening with the house decorated for the holidays—I found each visit offered a unique experience. Both times I went on the self-guided tour known as a ‘silent visit’. Speaking is not permitted, nor is photography. I found that this greatly enhanced the experience, encouraging visitors to be present and engage with all of the details of the house. Stepping off the bustling streets of London into the house feels like a stark contrast—it is completely candle-lit and silent. A guide points you down the foyer, where you make your way down the stairs to the lower-ground floor. Each floor of the five-storey house is set in a different time period, starting in the 18th century on the bottom floor and moving through time as you make your way to the top. One of the first rooms you enter is the cellar kitchen, which appears to be completely untouched since the 1700s, as if you stumbled upon a scene where the Jervis family had just stepped out.
The Dennis Severs house differs from a traditional house museum in the sense that it is not meant to be pristine, accompanied by guides narrating historical facts. Severs described each room as a ‘still life drama’, with each detail intentionally placed to evoke traces of the Jervis family. Wandering throughout each room, you might encounter a half-eaten scone, cups of tea left out, or cutlery leaned against the edge of a china plate as if just left by the family. In the silence you may hear the crackling fire, church bells, clopping hooves, footsteps on the creaking wooden floors, or the faint sound of conversations that remain tantalizingly just out of reach. The diffusion of scent throughout the house adds to the immersive nature of the tour, with the cellar air hanging heavy of candle wax, and during Christmastime, pomanders filling the space with a warm spicy scent. The essence of Severs’s vision wasn’t bound by strict historical accuracy, but rather aimed to bring the past to life. The house is designed to evoke the senses and spark the imagination, creating an experience that is felt rather than taught. Therefore, each visitor of the silent tour will experience the house differently, picking up on different details and piecing together their own image of the imaginary family, embarking on a singular and intimate journey through time.
Figure 1. Kitchen. courtesy of the Dennis Severs House
After walking through the cellar you make your way back up the stairs to the ground floor dining room. There is a sense of transition compared to the stripped-back cellar, suggesting the rising wealth of the silk weaver family in that specific time period. The walls are panelled in a dramatic dark green, with family portraits hung around the room. On the oak gateleg table one finds crystal glasses filled with wine and fine porcelain. Up the stairs on the first floor is the drawing room, with an ornate cornice ceiling, gold accents, mirrors, and a marble fireplace. During my most recent visit, entering this room felt as if I had just stumbled upon the aftermath of a Christmas party. On the tables there were knocked over glasses of wine, playing cards, and plates with unfinished cakes.
Figure 2. Dining Room, @dennissevershouse, instagram, photography by Lucinda Douglas-Menzies
Figure 3. Drawing Room, courtesy of the Dennis Severs House
On the floor above, the bedchamber hosts an eclectic mix of objects: a mahogany four-post bed with disheveled sheets, a letter dated 1821 when George IV had recently become king, and an impressive collection of Chinese porcelain displayed above the mantle, collected by Edward Jervis to represent an imaginary city overlooking the China Sea.
Figure 4. @dennissevershouse, instagram, photography by Lucinda Douglas-Menzies
Ascending the narrow staircase to the final floor, a dramatic shift is felt. In contrast to the opulence of the lower levels, the flooring is uneven and rickety, drying laundry is hung on a string by the fire, and the only items of furniture are a few broken chairs. This floor represents the 19th century, when the London silk industry was on the decline and an entire family might have lived in a room such as this one. You finally retrace your steps back down and enter a floral Victorian parlour, adorned with velvet drapery and floral wallpaper. Portraits and Staffordshire figures of Queen Victoria, who would have just celebrated her Golden Jubilee, sit upon the mantle. You might find Dennis’s New York Yankees cap, left to stir people’s sensibilities.
Figure 5. Victorian Parlour, @dennissevershouse, instagram, photography by Lucinda Douglas-Menzies
Critical reviews of the Dennis Severs house claim that it is a ‘mixed up mess’ and not a historically accurate representation. David Hockney, on the other hand, described it as “one of the world’s five great experiences”. The house bridges the tangible and the intangible, creating a dramatic immersion that engages all of the senses. Each room is bursting with intense visual imagery, each detail giving life to the imaginary family that inhabits the house. As Severs himself famously put it, “you either see it or you don’t”.
Bibliography
The Dennis Severs House. “Dennis Severs & His House” https://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/dennis-severs-and-his-house/.