Two Hampstead Houses - Keats and Fenton

Keats House (back view)

On a wet day my friend and I ventured into Hampstead with the aim to view two houses (we've since added two more to our list!). We began at Keats House, one I'd wanted to visit for a long time.

The house was once two dwellings. Keats lodged in one half and the other the Dilke family lived until they moved away and the Fanny Brawne and her family moved in. After Keats' time the house was converted into one dwelling and extended. In 1920 the house was saved from demolition and in 1929 it became a museum.

John Keats had a short and difficult life. Orphaned as a child he left school at 14 and trained as an apothercary surgeon but gave it to write poetry. His older brother emigrated and Keats nursed his younger brother until he died of TB at nineteen. His poetry received unkind comments and he struggled, as he wasn't wealthy.

He fell deeply in love with Fanny Brawne and bought her an engagement ring (the engagement was secret because Keats could not afford to marry). When he realised he was ill, he knew the symptoms and what the outcome would be. Like his brother he was suffering from TB. Unable now to see his beloved Fanny he was distraught. She was just the other side of the wall. Friends clubbed together to send him to Italy where the warmer weather might help him. He wrote heartbreaking letters to his friend about his feelings for Fanny because he could not bear to write to her himself. He died in Rome aged twenty-five thinking he was a failure as a poet. Little did he know.

The rooms span the ground floor, first floor and basement. In the gallery there are copies of Milton's Paradise Lost which Keats made notes on. He was a big fan of Milton and Shakespeare and studied their works avidly. You can hear some of Keats' poetry read and read the letters he wrote over the years. I loved Keats' first description of Fanny Brawne, who was 18 when they first met. She sounds like a typical teenager!

In the basement opposite the kitchens and cellar is a room where you can watch a short film about Keats. I loved the house and learning about the life of John Keats, short and tragic though it was.

Charles Brown 's Parlour

Keats Parlour

The Chester Room was an addition after Keats' timer. This used to be part of the garden!

Keats' bedroom

Sketched as Keats lay on his deathbed

Fanny Brawne's rooms 

Kitchens

Keats House (front view)

The next stop was Fenton House and Gardens. Here is the biggest collection of Harpsichords as well as other instruments. It was nice to hear that the instruments are still played. There was a Fenton family, one lady was born in Riga, but I'm afraid I did not find out much more. There was a huge collection of figurines of the type neither me or my friend liked! I did enjoy the gardens and I'd imagine they are lovely to sit in on a sunny day.

Neither house had a cafe so we headed down to Burgh House which we'd noticed earlier and seen they had a cafe. We hoped it was possible to use the cafe without viewing the house (as we were running out of time). Yes! And what a lovely cafe it was. We will be back to Burgh House another time as it's been added to our list, along with another house!

Mother & Baby!

Hurdy Gurdy

Cafe at Burgh House