David Parr House: Decorative Artist's Place of Art

Behind the front door of a modest terraced house in Cambridge lies an extraordinary Victorian hand painted interior. Working class decorative artist David Parr (1854-1927) spent many years decorating the finest churches and grandest homes in the country. In his precious spare time, he painted the walls of his own home with designs inspired by those he had worked on professionally, adapting them to create his own palace of art at 186 Gwydir Street. The David Parr House is a unique example of Arts & Crafts workmanship layered with 20th century social history. The house was subsequently lived in for 85 years by his granddaughter, and only discovered in 2009. The property is open for guided small group tours, but interior photography on tours is prohibited. However, with the permission of David Parr House our lecturer, Fiona Rose, has created a talk that will visually take you inside the property. We will learn about the lives of those who lived there, the commissions David worked on and the inspirations behind his wall paintings.