Dennis Severs' House

What a delightful place to visit. The overall atmosphere is wonderful and subtle, from the ringing of bells to the different scents in different parts of the house. The thing that I find most unique about it is that each room is a tableau that can tell you something about the inhabitants of the house. It's really a special place.

Really cool experience, an old house that has been artfully transformed into an experience that spans over centuries. The event that we attended was in the evening and only lit with candlelight which created an amazing atmosphere, but I think it would be incredible no matter what time of day you went

A Hidden Gem in London Dennis Severs’ House is a truly unique experience — stepping inside feels like traveling back in time. Each room tells a story through beautifully arranged objects, candlelight, and ambient sounds. It’s not just a museum; it’s a living, breathing work of art. A must-visit for anyone who loves history, atmosphere, and immersive storytelling.

Went a few years ago, but I remember it well. I thought it was brilliant, not like any other house I have visited, due to the imagination and atmosphere of the presentation. It's a bit like the Marie-Claire, as if the occupants have just deserted the place suddenly, and you are invisible and looking into their private lives. A meal is left half-eaten on the table, the bed is unmade, you can see how they lived their lives in those days. Lots of fascinating historical details to take in. Even though it is expensive for what it is, and it doesn't take that long to go all around the house, I recommend it, but only to people who have imagination and creativity, others will probably not "get it" and not get much out of the experience.

I loved this place. There is no sign outside to say what it is and that was a good start but a very welcoming gentleman gave me a helpful introduction; not too long and limited to helpful points for looking round. The house itself is wonderful. The rooms do not form a unified whole house but each one is beautifully authentic. They are mostly as they would have been in the 18th century but there is a Victorian room and two marvellous rooms on the top floor furnished as the rooms of impecunious lodgers. I visit a lot of heritage sites and they all tend to merge after a while but this one is special and will, I suspect, always stand out from the crowd.

An amazing, awe-inspiring time travel experience. Would have liked to spend hours upon hours in the house. Much love and passion.

It's a very atmospheric place and it's particularly nice to visit close to Christmas as it's all decorated with Christmas decorations and food. Come armed with imagination and buy a ticket in advance as it's often fully booked. We were a bit late for our time slot due to transport problems but they were very understanding and it was no problem. I had a book about the house which had a helpful plan of the rooms (see my photos), which would have been a good idea to give to visitors, as there was very little explanation given apart from a brief introduction outside the house (the visit is a silent visit) Please note you cannot take photos in the house! This is just my opinion but the idea is that it is supposed to be as if the family just left the room so they are left as if the family are still living there, furnished with antiques and old fabrics/clothes. They look so old and tatty, I feel like it's not at all as if they just walked out, if they had, things would look a lot newer and nicer as they were fairly well off. Would be nice to see some modern replicas in their finery

Stunning, unique, atmospheric - there aren't enough superlatives. A true oasis of time travel in London. Beautiful antique furnishings & décor; candlelight & homeliness, including fire-warmth and smells. A must for lovers of history, interiors, architecture. No touching of objects or photos inside. We took the silent self guided tour, which I loved.

This was such a unique and fantastic "still-life drama" visit. If you are looking for an obscure, yet artsy experience, this is the place to see. Each room is pretty narrow and you'll be walking up about 6 flights of stairs so wear comfortable shoes. You'll use all of your senses when you walk through this house and, imagined how people lived during the early 18th century based on economic means. Costs 10 GBP per person for a general visit and they take cash only. I used an Uber to get here and decided to Google Maps my way through the town of Shoreditch afterward which, was also a fun adventure.

So special. Do not bother learning, discussing, or telling your friends any more about it to go there than you must before arriving there. It is good and cannot harm unless the party is sensitive about step-free access. Thank you!

I really wanted to love this experience. I loved the idea of it all - a home frozen in time, stripped of anything modern, oozing history and story and questions. I even loved the way I discovered it: I just zoomed into our hotel's location and moved the map on my screen to see what was nearby and intriguing. On the whole, it was an interesting experience. There were a few other people making their way through the floors of the residence, and some of them (one group in particular) clearly wanted to be anywhere but inside those walls. Still, we took our time with each room, trying to put ourselves in the time, forget the world outside, become immersed in the experience. There are four floors, and you're not supposed to talk, which made finding the right "next room" a bit of a challenge. I think I tried to enter rooms out of order on three of the four floors (and only got the fourth floor right because there was only room available). They have people working the space, but none of them pointed in the right direction or gave even the slightest hint that you were headed the wrong way until you'd already committed to walking into a room. Each room had a different "story" attached to it. You walk in, take a moment to gather your senses and get a feel of the place (no modern technology, so everything's candle and fireplace lit), then you're meant to understand everything that was going on right before you walked in. There are small cards scattered throughout the dioramas, which encourage you to ponder a certain piece, question the placement of a chair, or absorb a scent. They go out of their way to ensure accuracy and make the rooms feel authentic. Yes, that really IS a bedpan with something that looks suspiciously like wee floating in it (I couldn't bring myself to check on that one). Maybe I was just too tired to really appreciate what they did there. I am glad that we went - it was different and maybe a bit odd - but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anybody who doesn't have an appreciation for history or strange. They don't allow photos (follow their Instagram page if you're interested in getting a sneak peek of the space), so you're going to have to rely on your ever-fading memories and snapshots in your mind. Or maybe that's just me.

The facts: I did a silent, candle lit tour. It was not crowded and I found the staff friendly and helpful. Cool: The candle light and the silence!! It was nice to be in my own head and try to imagine what it was like to live in the house and not have to hear other people yaking. It's a very unique experience, but I don't think this would be the case if it were crowded. Meh: I never felt like I'd just missed anyone. I tried to think that way and it just didn't work. You could clearly see that people had been interrupted, but that was the end of it for me. I never really heard anything that made it sound like there was anyone in the next room. I also didn't like the informational cards left around the room - as others mentioned - just weird and distracting. I would have preferred more information vs. something about my third eye. The rooms were decorated with so much stuff, I don't know how they could chastise you for looking at "things." Every inch seemed to be jammed full of a random things - including a Meghan and Harry teacup. Summary: If you're looking for something low-key and different, try this. It doesn't live up to the hype, but it is still interesting enough if you've already checked off all of your London must sees.

This experience came recommended by an old friend, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I found it to be a profound step back in history, that was, frankly, a bit emotional for me. And the curation is remarkable; the level of attention to detail makes it clear why they can't keep the place open all the time!! I would agree with other reviewers that Severs' written "narration" can be a bit of a detractor, but is aimed to help set the stage so that you realize you're having an experience and not just walking through a collection of objects. When I was finished, I immediately wanted to see it again, and would have were I in London longer on this trip. Will definitely be back. ALSO--a note--they only take cash, so be prepared (although there is a cash point nearby).

"Not what you see but what you just missed." This is a very good motto for this house but still feels like it could use a bit more of an introduction to each new time period. Or some more clues in each room to tie it more to a time period. Something to give the visitor a clue of where hey are in time and what's different or changed. Still very interesting. Quite a shock to walk out the door and be greeted with modern London.

Like other reviewers, I was expecting to love this experience. It had been highly recommended to me by some coworkers in the states. I loved the rooms and objects. I loved the candlelight, I loved the silence. Other reviewers have marvelously described the setting. What I didn't like were the little cards resting here and there. First, they were random. Some explained something about the room, such as a portrait being of one of the residents of the house. Others were factoids. And then there were the "tsk tsk" cards. I don't remember the exact words. They were something like "You either see it or you don't," or maybe "if you don't get it, you're not really looking." The gist was: Tsk-tsk, you silly visitor. You're not insightful enough to deserve this place. They worked so hard to immerse you in the experience, then they themselves pull you out of it with those unnecessary cards.

Absolutely loved it - a must see. This is a unique experience and unlike anything else we did on our visit. Could use a little more finesse in the execution - but overall it was very enjoyable and a great concept.

Interesting, thoughtful, one-of-a-kind experience. Loved the smells and visuals. Seeing Tiny Tim's crutches--so small!--was unexpectedly moving. Lots to talk about on the way home; purchased the book "18 Folgate Street: The Tale of a House in Spitalfields" to learn more. Will visit again on next trip to London; would like to take a curator-led tour next time. Highly recommended.

Easily my favorite site of all the museums, oddities and nooks I obsessively explored while I was in London. "This house is a time capsule, sometimes opened up. To enter its door is to pass through a frame into a painting: one with a time and a life of its own." As the web site explains, the house's creator, Dennis Severs, spent many years trying to recapture, through painstaking effort and detail, the lifestyle of a family living in the 1700s in London. The product of his efforts is Dennis Severs House, and it is captivating. Why spoil the mystery by revealing details here, though? The idea is that this house is a unique experience for each visitor - it captures your imagination and your senses (including smell!) and will leave specific interpretations up to you. You wander from room to room, perhaps starting in the basement and making your way up several levels, and the whole time you feel as though you are a visitor (an intruder, rather) in a house that is being inhabited by a wealthy, busy family in the 18th century. It truly does take you away. I remember being jolted back to reality when I found myself on the outside doorstep afterward, thrust back into the cold, damp streets of 21st century London. It's almost a lonely feeling, and you suddenly rush to commit to memory every image you've just taken in. But enough blabbing from me! Go see it for yourself. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket during Christmastime, when the house was appropriately decorated, but it will no doubt be unforgettable regardless of the time of year. To reserve your spot, go to the web site, click "bookings and visiting," and send an email. When I have kids one day, I can't wait to take them here and experience it all over again with them.

This was really oversold to me so I think it took away from the experience. As did the two women who would not stop talking at full volume while I went through the house. I went on a Sunday afternoon and found it quite crowded. Even though you can go through at your own pace, queues within the house and rooms packed with people made it feel rushed. I imagine being in the house alone would be a really incredible (and expensive!) experience. I strongly discourage going on a Sunday (sans booking) like I did!

Dennis Severs' House is interesting, yet at times seems like the ramblings of a mad man. Constant notes across the house that read "you either see it or you don't" and "if you're looking at the THINGS, you're missing it" and "there's something beyond sight and sound" eventually start to come off as a man losing his mind. And though I visited this place well after his death, videos of him show he was a little loony. You have to be if you are going to be peeing in pots. We were greeted by a man in a waiters outfit (which was never explained) and he seemed brainwashed. Like a loyal follower of Severs who truly believed there were messages in every cubic centimeter of the air we were breathing. We toured through the place at whatever pace we wanted, which was nice. The waiters-outfit-guy strictly said this was not a museum, and scared me a little with the creepy things he was saying about noises and smells. The rooms themselves are very cool and I enjoyed the concept that it was like a "3D painting" that you were experiencing. It was unique, but everyone I was with felt they didn't truly understand what Severs was trying to get across. Just in how everything was a clue, but we couldn't mentally picture what he wanted. At one point a lady who I guess worked there started creepily scratching the wall. We all looked at her and she backed away. We all looked at the wall and she was literally scratching nothing. Nervous tick? I don't want to sleep tonight. My favorite part about the whole thing was that there was a live cat at the basement level. The fact that no one lives there and that there is still a living cat who was very friendly was neat. Overall it was a cool collection of things and the set up was interesting, but we all left it more confused than anything else.

This place is absolutely extraordinary. It's a house which has been left in a pristine state by the artist who lives there. So basically, it's a 18th century interior looking just the way it did, totally unchanged. I can't begin to do it justice. The thrill is, you walk around this house in absolute silence, to preserve the feeling that it's a real house with real people. So the atmosphere of time warp is just superb. It's like history was in the room a couple of moments before you entered. It's only open for special requests, so you have to book ahead through the website. But I cannot sell this place highly enough, everyone should be able to walk around...

This is a house once owned by the late Dennis Severs. He chose to stage the house as it would feel and look like several centuries ago. You must observe in silence looking around you and taking in all the little details. This house is one of very few that has not been modernized in Georgian spitalfields. I went one Christmas time and I noticed that the mince pies smelled of fruit and spice. I could feel the just baked warmth emanating from them. Take your time and soak in the atmosphere. Gradually your mind will retune itself to an age where such things like iPhones and the net is unknown. At the end of the tour I glanced out of the window expecting to see a Dickensian London but I was shocked to see the steel and glass towers of London.

Kind of an oddball "museum" to visit - glad I only paid £10. But, as a person who lives in a mid-century modern house, this Victorian was eye-opening to me. The website writing, and all the little notes in the rooms telling one "you either see it, or you don't," reminded me of the overblown text written by curators in (conventional?) art museums. So, I tried to ignore all that. Looking at all the little artifacts of life in the 18th century was very interesting and presented in an uber-natural-history-museum way. The candlelit rooms and cramped quarters were uncomfortable when more than 3 people were in a room but definitely gave me a sense of how people lived back then.

This is the best, most memorable experience I've ever had at any museum or art installation. This house is full of living history that you can see, smell, and hear. It is a life altering experience. If you visit London as a tourist go immediately so that if you want to go again before you leave you will have time. After you go, you will possibly lose the desire to go to an actual museum because you know that you will never again be immersed in the past the way that you were inside that house. After you go to the house you can walk around Spitalfields and go to the flower market (if it's open) and the ethnic foods tents which have food from literally every country. Beyond description!

Full review on http://www.thehappinessprojectlondon.wordpress.com A friend told me about Dennis Severs' House in Spitalfields, and it sounded intriguing - not so much a museum as an experience. So my trusted friend for all things cultural, and I went along on Monday evening. Concealed from the street, we stepped Alice-in-Wonderland style into an old, candlelit world. Dennis Severs, an artist (I imagine quite an eccentric one), bought this house in the late '40s and lived as if part of its early 18th century life. The house has a story it looks, sounds and smells as if you have just walked in on a family of Hugenot silk-weavers, the Jervis family. It captures a moment in time glasses filled with sherry, cups with coffee, coats thrown over chairs, beds rumpled, smells lingering in the air (camomile and rose in the bedroom, coffee, sweets, burning fires), sounds of life outside, broken cups, half-eaten toast, fires flickering, books open at the page it was being read, its reader throwing down their glasses before they left. The historical details reminded me of the Georgian House in Edinburgh, which replicates life in the 18th century. However, maybe because of its location in East London, or the fact it was founded by an artist, this place is more of an artistic experience like poetry or painting, relying on the visitor's imagination to bring it to life. There are notes left round the house to remind you to use your imagination, your senses, to take it all in. They call it a Still Life Drama and their motto is you either see it or you don't which made me slightly paranoid that I wasn't seeing it, whatever it was but I certainly found it a beautiful and atmospheric experience. I loved Lady Jervis' room with her dressing table and jewels, the table where she took her coffee, and amazing four-poster bed (I imagined how nice it would be to awake in my four-poster while my servant brought me breakfast tea and crumpets on a silver tray); the grand drawing room with its huge marble fireplace, elaborate curtains and amazing cornices; the servants' quarters with their mess and dirt and cold; the smaller room on the 1st floor where the painting above the fireplace resembles the room itself, or the room is the painting. It was then that I felt like I was part of the painting, an actor in a film. We realised with sadness that in the midst of this expanding City of chrome, high-rise and glass, exist these beautiful old houses on cobbled streets with their marble fireplaces, cornices and wood, and most of all their histories and stories, many of which are being re-developed. History buffs, City types, architecture fans or those visiting Spitalfields market or Brick Lane, I'd definitely recommend you pop in.

The Happiness Project has really summed up this place very well with a comprehensive review so I will just add a couple of observations. One of the rooms has a Hogarth painting depicting revellers around a table drinking and carousing. Standing in front of the picture the room is designed to feel like an extension of it and the sights, smells and sounds are designed to help you drift off into the scene. This device is used throughout, most often by a portrait of various family members where the room extends from the picture to give you an idea of their character, for example the obsession with oranges or the coronation depending on the room. It is an immensley atmospheric experience but I guess I wasn't quite sure what to expect and thought there might be some sort of continuous narrative throughout; maybe a murder mystery or something. Alas this was not the case and indeed I'm not sure I saw the elusive "it" Still it was a very different and thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an evening.

This house is deliciously eerie and takes you through the history of how life must have been lived in it, through the early and late Georgian periods up to the Victorian period. Dennis Severs actually lived in it like this, and made the house into a living work of art - lit by candles and oil lamps, with some rooms charmingly higgledy-piggledy and some a bit frightening (there's one on the ground floor that really gave me the willies). The voluntary guides are helpful and welcoming, and as you walk through the house you get the impression that whoever lives - or lived - there has just left it, with glasses of wine standing on the tables, half eaten food, half-heard conversations. Something in the place - a sense that you are a sort of welcome trespasser - makes you tiptoe a bit, and speak in whispers. This is a strange and memorable experience, and though, as other reviewers have pointed out, it doesn't seem all that exciting on paper, it will stay with you.

Having my couture studio across the street from Dennis Severs House, I walk past it daily on this historic cobbled street Norton Folgate. The street is steeped in history and the D S House just brings to life the atmosphere and feeling of history. It is an interesting part of London. The City is something special and in particular Spital Square and the side streets.

Tucked away down a side street close to loads of shiney new buildings is Dennis Severs' bizarre little house. It's hard to know what to describe it as - it's a kind of museum of stuff that this bloke collected. It's been set up as a family lives there and has got sound effects and fresh food and things cooking to make it feel lived in. While this wouldn't immediatley sound like something you would want to go to, it's better than I've described it. You might have to queue for a while before you can get in - they limit the amount of people who can get in at once (we had to wait about 30 mins) so take an umbrella if it looks like it might rain! It's also got limited opening hours so check on the website before hand to make sure it'll be open when you get there. Apparently they sometimes do evening tours by candle light, which I'm sure would be well worth doing!

I like the quirky "off the beaten path" things in the cities and towns I visit. This is one of those things. Dennis Severs was an artist of sorts who basically turned his home into a living diorama that depicted how a fictional family of weavers (the Jervis family) may have lived back in the 1700s. You pay your £10-£15 (depending on when you go), and then enter into the home. You can't take photos--and anyway, the lighting is pretty low so they'd be terrible if you had. But, imagine starting in the basement. You come upon some kind of dusty storage room with a low and somewhat deteriorating ceiling from which you can hear the creaks and coos of the Jervis family living above you. You peer around at some cob-webbed cups and maybe an old doll or two (unless I fabricated that as part of my memory). Like the other reviews mention (and the pamphlet you'll receive ironically after your tour, though it makes more sense to receive beforehand), the whole point is that you become part of this "still life drama" (or, as I said, living diorama). "You either see it or you don't" is the motto of the house, which I assume is a weird way of saying you should live in that moment, feel like you're there back in the 1700s with this family, a family you can hear but never quite see. But, you know they're there, as you can see the plate on the table with unfinished food and can smell the candles burning. I does feel like you are in someone's actual home (if you ignore the workers placed on each floor who watch over you to ensure you touch nothing or the signs that remind you you are on CCTV or can use your imagine to pretend the sounds you hear don't sound like they are being played from tape player with a rather poor recording, which many of them most certainly do). The tour continues as you move from room to room and floor to floor, smelling different smells, taking note of a table with a cup of tea, the bedding ruffled as if someone was just there, the book laid open with the page held down by spectacles, the ironic NY Yankees hat on a side table, deteriorating floor boards and ceiling panels in the attic--presumably for a poor tenant renting from the family (I think a plaque somewhere in there said), and the many odds and ends on the shelves and the old portraits on the walls. It is rather interesting to just see what this family owned (or just what Dennis Severs chose to put in his home/museum), even if the items aren't necessarily actually from the 1700s--um, especially the Yankees hat. And, I like that a cat does still live there--perhaps Mr. Severs reincarnated? Bottom line: This place is pretty cool and quirky, but I think that many people will find this a bit less entertaining than the price tag deserves (which could be lowered if they get volunteers to staff the place and open it more often). After all, the light is so low you can't quite see all the objects and going from room to room doesn't take all that much time. And, it's not necessarily authentic to the 1700s--just one man's vision of it. But, if you don't mind spending a few beers' worth of quid on something other than beer, this is an interesting stop. And, you can go have an amazing dinner at nearby Andina afterwards. Or, a nice snack at Beigel Bake.

This is a unique experience to be sure. I enjoyed seeing the different montages of rooms from different centuries and time periods, with all the lovely antiques and atmospheric smells and sounds. However, I came away feeling disappointed. In a city full of free museums, you expect something special when you have to cough up a £10 entry fee. I wish that there was more of a coherent narrative for the house. There was no particular logic as you moved from room to room, skipping from the 17th century to the 19th, walking through rooms that seemed as though they were meant to be real models of how people lived, and others that hinted at characters from Dickens' novels and Victorian fiction. Plus, I found all the little notes telling me to stop looking at the objects, to look at what they're doing rather condescending and a bit tedious. One note would have been sufficient, I don't need a reminder in every room! Overall, it was interesting and I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's worth the £10, If you live in London, take the time to see it, but if you're travelling here for only a short time, go for the lovely FREE museums like the British Museum and the V&A.

You walk around it speechless, and you walk away speechless. You "either see it or you don't" - and it's one of those things that you won't really understand until you've stood in one of the rooms long enough to let go of your inhibitions and just let the room enter YOU. Truly one of the most unique experiences I've ever had in London! This place hit me so hard that I had two dreams about it that night. The first was about the house itself, and the second was about the way that the house affects you when you realize what it's about. The best part is walking around in silence. Each person walks away with something different. Some people walk away with nothing at all. Best to go with an open mind...

Visiting this historical installation was an evocative and slightly unnerving experience but ultimately left me feeling like there wasn't much There there. Especially not £15 worth of "there" to walk through an installation and be exhorted by a series of little signs to look past what was in front of my eyes. Maybe I would have felt less like I was missing something if I wasn't constantly being told that I definitely was.

Hugely camp but sort of gorgeous house in the heart of Spitalfields in which you move through time as you climb the stairs. You start in the basement in a seventeenth century kitchen, complete with food, crockery, pots and pans, and work your way up to Victorian bedrooms at the top. The attention to detail is astounding and you're supposed to feel as if the inhabitants left the room just as you entered hence the touches like the toppled tea cup. It's a little precious, you're not allowed to take photos or speak above a whisper so as not to ruin the atmosphere for others but it is such a fun experience, almost like performance art. I was here for hours looking at absolutely everything as there's just so much to look at. Booking is essential as they can't let too many people in at once.

This is a very strange place. I went on a candlelit evening just before Christmas and I felt like I was walking into a house from a Dickens novel. I didn't know what I was going to see as a friend dragged me along, and I spent at least half my time there completely flummoxed about what I was seeing. Then I realised it's sort of like being in a giant art installation and really started to enjoy being in the space. I think I'd reccomend this to everyone, but I'm not sure everyone would get it.

The door has a notice about being as silent as in a library or church to fully appreciate the visit but, today, neither of those places demand silence like this house. And it's vital, not precious nor just a request. That's partly why it's really not for children (there was a delightful, curious 12 year old girl there who simply couldn't do it...) and probably not for many adults . The emphasis is not on education, facts or even history (although some knowledge helped my perception) but something more sensual, emotional, even theatrical. I enjoyed it hugely and was transported via all senses - as close to physically as can be done - back to human lives of the past. I felt a little inadequate each time I was reminded that Dennis S created it because he wanted you to 'get it' & I wasn't sure if I had. I was surprised at one point, though, that such an exquisitely authentic stage set of a home could move me to tears. Difficult to leave and rejoin the modern street, it quickly cast the power and reality of a vivid dream about the past which I shall probably glimpse & catch wafts of until way into my future. Thanks DSH for an experience which was unashamedly esoteric, a tad grimy and a little exclusive: it had the maverick air of independence, untouched by safe, egalitarian government bodies. And no toilet or teashop. Brilliant.

Authentic early 18th century house. First went here when Dennis was alive and had the experience of his enthusiastic tour of the house, complete with piss pots and tobacco burners , to give the rich feel of old London and the smells of the city. Would love to go dressed as loud American Tourist, 'Oh my God honey, this stuff is so old! I wanna buy it and ship it back home in boxes