Hyme House

Hyme House, at 3 Fitzjohns Avenue, Hampstead, England, was the London home of society portrait painter Philip de László.

Finalised in 1876, the master plan was centred on a tree-lined boulevard, known as Fitzjohns Avenue (named after one of the family's country homes), lined with 70 villas and chestnut trees (3).

Around this main boulevard were a series of adjoining streets including Netherhall and Maresfield Gardens, named after the Manor House and parish of the Maryon-Wilson's estate in Sussex (3).

Antiques included a 13th-century Sicilian chest, pieces by Auguste Rodin, and Louis XIV candlesticks and a sculpture of the King on horseback that had once been in the Palais de Versailles (4).

de László obtained a licence to build the studio from Spencer Maryon-Wilson, the original landowner and master developer of Fitzjohn's Avenue and its surrounding roads.

Prince Chichibu and his wife Princess Setsuko attended the coronation of King George VI in 1937; while in London they visited the studio at Hyme House to have their portraits painted (2).

Film footage survives of Philip de László entertaining Princess Elizabeth and the Duke and Duchess of York at Hyme House in 1933.

During the 1920s and 1930s many artists, writers, magazine and newspaper editors, merchants and physicians lived in Fitzjohn's; its close proximity to the centre of London enabled people to commute daily (3).

There were so many artists on the avenue that it became a tradition for their houses to be opened on special days – known as "Show Sundays" - for friends, colleagues, and neighbours to see their latest artwork.

After World War II an honorary (not officially listed) blue plaque was fitted on the wall of his former home, commemorating his life and time at the villa (3).

In the same year, the Cardinal invited the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, a Swiss-based Catholic religious order, to acquire Hyme House to serve as their first foundation in England (1).

During the Second World War Hyme House served as a nursing home for injured civilians and military personnel, run by the Sisters of Mercy.