[3][4] It is open daily except Tuesdays, and is a companion museum to 18 Stafford Terrace, another Victorian artist's home in Kensington.

Aitchison designed the first part of the house (2 Holland Park Road, later renumbered as 12) in 1864, although Leighton was not granted a lease on the land until April 1866.

The main room was the first-floor studio, facing north, originally 45 by 25 feet, with a large central window to provide plenty of light for painting.

After Leighton died in 1896, the contents of the house were sold, including at least one thousand of his own drawings, almost all of which were bought by the Fine Art Society.

The museum has on permanent display works of art by various members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones and George Frederic Watts, as well as 81 oil paintings by Leighton himself.

[11] A major £8 million refurbishment,[12][13] including an updated new wing, based on 20th-century additions to the original house, opened on 15 October 2022.

[14] The wing includes additional exhibition spaces and displays, a café facing the restored garden, a learning centre, and a store for the collections.

[16] The house's pseudo-Islamic court has featured as a set in various film and television programmes, such as Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Brazil (1985) and an episode of the drama series Spooks, as well as the music video for the songs "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers and "Gold" by Spandau Ballet.