Created by Dennis Severs, who owned and lived in the house until his death, it is intended as a "historical imagination" of what life would have been like inside for a family of Huguenot silk weavers.

A large trove of audio tapes that were found have been condensed to create a new Dennis Severs' Tour,[1] conducted by an actor.

Bohemian visual artists Gilbert & George added to the flavour of the neighbourhood; resident there since the late 1960s, they also refurbished a similar house.

[6]Cultural studies researcher Hedvig Mårdh writes that Dennis Severs' House is "admittedly difficult to categorize" and that it combines scenography and artwork.

[5] Severs himself offered the term "still-life drama", which today is used in a number of notes that guide silent visitors around the house.

He wrote, to describe his endeavour: I worked inside out to create what turned out to be a collection of atmospheres: moods that harbour the light and the spirit of various ages.Writer and illustrator Brian Selznick used the house as an inspiration for his 2015 novel The Marvels.

The writer Jeanette Winterson, who also restored a derelict house nearby to live in, observed, "Fashions come and go, but there are permanencies, vulnerable but not forgotten, that Dennis sought to communicate".

The house was bought by the Spitalfields Trust shortly before Severs, long HIV-positive, died of cancer two days after Christmas 1999.

"[2] 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.