J.M.W. Turner's House in Twickenham - open today!

It's the first Saturday of the month and JMW Turner's House at Twickenham is open today 2.00 to 4.30pm. Sandycombe Lodge is the country retreat which J.M.W. Turner designed for himself in 1813.

The House is open the first Saturday of the month between April and October.  Vistors are advised to use the train as there is no parking for cars.

Turner’s House will open for ‘walk-in’ visitors on two more occasions in 2015, on Saturdays September 5th and October 3rd, from 2.00 to 4.30 p.m., entrance £4.00 for guided tours.

The building was added to English Heritage's Heritage at Risk Register in 2013. Below you can watch a video by made by Turner’s House Trust which is leading a project to restore Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham to its original appearance.  The video shows you what the villa looks like inside.

Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham
Villa of JMW Turner Esq. RA
Engraved by WB Cooke and published March 1814.

Once the building is restored the Trust then plans to:

• open it to visitors on a regular basis 
• display the Livermore Collection of Turner material; and 
• set up a programme of activities and learning opportunities to involve people of all ages

So far the Trust has been awarded Lottery funding to get the project underway and plan what needs to be done. In January this tear they received Stage 2 HLF funding of £1.4m in January 2015. However the project still needs to raise £290,000 to complete funding.

Have a look inside and hear about plans to conserve this beautiful building.

Sandycombe Lodge is located at 40 Sandycoombe Road, Twickenham TW1 2LR



For more information: www.turnerintwickenham.org.uk - which also tells you how you can personally get involved with supporting the restoration.

More about JMW Turner 

More blog posts about JMW Turner on this blog

Turner Exhibitions

• Two watercolour exhibitions at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge - Review of "Watercolour: Elements of Nature" which is at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge until 27 September.
• Turner Watercolours with Hockney and Shirley June 28, 2007 - Discover how Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) revolutionised two different kinds of image-making: watercolour and print.
• Exhibition review: Turner and the Masters at Tate Britain 20 Jan 2010 - The focus of the narrative in the exhibition is on Turner and, despite the title of the exhibition, I think I might have missed the point about quite how significant some of the other artists are.
• 'Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape' at the RA  11 Feb 2013 - Review of the Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape exhibition at theRoyal Academy of Arts.

The 'Mr Turner' Film

• "Mr Turner" - a new film about JMW Turner16 May 2014 - Highlights the upcoming release of a film about JMW Turner by Mile Leigh - with videos.
• Royal Academy Videos: how we made Mr. Turner 22 Dec 2014 - 'Mr Turner' - a review of background materials created by the RA relating to the film.

My Turner sketches

• Turner finished my sketchbook19 May 2011 - This self-portrait appears to date from around 1799 when Turner was about twenty-four years old. It was possibly intended to mark an important moment in his career, his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy.
•  Tonight Matthew I'm going to be JMW Turner 30 Jan 2008 - Last night I needed a break from writing - so did a drawing based on one of Turner's works - limbering up for my project on Turner later this year!
• Tate Britain: Drawing from Turner - One of the current exhibitions at the Tate Britain challenges the notion that copying is no way to learn.