Dennis Severs (16 November 1948, California, US – 27 December 1999, London) was drawn to London by what he called "English light", and bought the dilapidated property in Folgate Street from the Spitalfields Trust in 1979. This area of the
East End of London, next to
Spitalfields Market, had become very run-down, and artists had started to move in.
Bohemian visual artists
Gilbert & George added to the flavour of the neighbourhood; resident there since the late 1960s, they also refurbished a similar house. In addition, the historian and writer
Raphael Samuel lived in the area. The group of people Severs was a part of, who began renovating houses in Spitalfields in the 1980s, is sometimes referred to as the Neo-Georgians. Severs started on a programme to refurbish the ten rooms of his house, each in a different historic style, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The rooms are arranged as if they are in use and the occupants have only just left. The rooms contain objects either of the period, or made by Severs. An authentic-looking 17th-century
swag over a fireplace was made of varnished walnuts. A
four-poster bed, that Severs slept in, was made of pallets and polystyrene. Painter
David Hockney described the house as one of the world's greatest works of
opera. The house was bought by the Spitalfields Trust shortly before Severs, long
HIV-positive, died of cancer two days after Christmas 1999. Severs wrote before his death "I have recently come to accept what I refused to accept for so long: that the house is only ephemeral. That no one can put a preservation order on atmosphere." Nonetheless, the house was preserved, and open to the public, who are asked during their visit to respect the intent of the creator and participate in an imaginary journey to another time. == Television ==