A Georgian house in Spitalfields, London

 A Georgian house on Princelet Street in Spitalfields is said to be one of the most photographed buildings in the area. It is No 4 Princelet St and the ground floor exterior looks quite dilapidated from the outside. It is Grade II listed.

The four storey house has been home to a succession of migrant families. The property was completed in 1723 and was originally home to Sir Benjamin Truman, who was attracted by the building’s proximity to his family’s brewery. Other houses were used for Huguenot migrants - the UK’s first refugees - and a Huguenot weaver occupied No 4. Since then the area has been home to Irish linen workers, Eastern European Jews, Jews from the Netherlands, and most recently members of Spitalfields’ large Bangladeshi community - it is adjacent to Brick Lane.

The inside is not normally open to the public. However in Oct 2022 it was open, for an art exhibition, Christo – Early Works. So I went to have a look at the house. 

I had never heard of the artist Christo. He was known for large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and landscape elements wrapped in fabric. For this exhibition, it’s his smaller scale works that are on display, mostly from the 1960s and 70s, depicting everyday objects veiled in fabric or plastic and bound with rope or twine. I must admit I found them all very strange and didn't bother to pick up a large booklet of the artwork, as I was more interested in the house.

The ground floor front room -

The back room has stairs (closed) to the first floor with a skylight -

I liked the old radiators around the house -

We were allowed to go up to the upper three floors. 

A very small fireplace on the top floor -

Looking over to Christ Church Spitalfields

and the neighbouring buildings, looking down on chimney pots -

Same view from one floor down -

View from the front top floor window, the chimney pots on Princelet Street -

 The exhibition is part of a a new program, Gagosian Open, which will have temporary projects sited  in unusual contexts. 

See more on the Christo exhibition. And from the same page, some info on the house -

And see more on No 4 Princelet Street. 

And my blog on the Truman Brewery.