Handel Hendrix House

The museum was opened in 2001 by the Handel House Trust following four decades of tireless and dedicated hard work. The idea first sparked in 1958 when Leslie Sparey, a dentist from the Lake District, made arrangements with Viyella, who occupied 25 Brook Street at the time, for a special visit with his family. A year later the musicologist and Handelian Stanley Sadie had the same idea when he attended a commemoration held there for the bicentenary of Handel's death. Sparey's quest for a Handel Museum started when he began writing letters to a few eminent musicians; most of this early correspondence is now lost apart from a letter from Sir Keith Faulkner, Director of the Royal College of…

The house has been restored to look as it did during Handel's 36-year occupancy from 1723 to 1759. A typical early 18th-century London terrace house, it comprises a basement, three main storeys and an attic, and Handel was the first occupant. The attic was later converted into a fourth full floor. The ground floor is a shop not associated with the Museum, and the upper floors are leased to a charity called the Handel House Trust, and have been open to the public since 8 November 2001. The interiors have been restored to the somewhat spartan style of the Georgian era, using mostly architectural elements from elsewhere, since, apart from the staircase, few of the original interior features…

The house is open to the public five days a week, Wednesday to Sunday. The museum has a lively events programme including live music, changing exhibitions, lectures and children's educational events. Several performances of Baroque music are staged each month; recitals are sometimes during opening hours, but more usually in the early evening for a separate charge.