Probably the most popular quote about London is attributed to Dr. Samuel Johnson: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." It practically inflates the chest with imperial superiority as one's lapels are grasped.

He moved to this house in Gough Square in 1748, where he stayed until 1759, writing numerous books and biographies and most importantly - his 'Dictionary of the English Language.  The first dictionary in any language.

Johnson’s house is one of remarkably few Georgian examples left in the City. It was restored at the turn of the 20th century by Cecil Harmsworth, an MP who described it as: "At the time of my purchase of the house in April 1911, it presented every appearance of squalor and decay…It is doubtful whether in the whole of London there existed a more forlorn or dilapidated tenement."

In 1970 Dennis Severs, a Canadian artist, bought this 10-room house in Folgate Street, Spitalfields, long before it became a trendy City location. He filled his home with chipped antiques and anonymous portraits picked up from flea markets, determined to recreate an authentic 18th century household.

Severs started on a programme to refurbish the ten rooms of the house, each in a different historic style, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries for an imaginary family - The Jervises. The rooms are arranged as if they are in use and the occupants have recently left - the Marie Celeste approach. Displays include half-eaten food, and different smells and background sounds for each room. Severs referred to this as "still life drama".
Painter David Hockney described the house as "one of the world's greatest works of opera".