David Parr House

David Parr was a working-class painter employed for many years by the decorative arts company F R Leach & Sons, whose clients included Jesus College, Cambridge and the church of All Saints on Jesus Lane. Over a period of forty years, Parr decorated his own terraced house in the manner of these grand Arts & Crafts interiors, creating hand-painted wall decoration, Gothic carvings and stained glass panels. However, the house was also a family home, where Parr and his wife Mary raised three children.

Parr died in 1927 and the house passed to his wife and then his granddaughter, Elsie Palmer, who cared for the interiors for the next 85 years and raised her own family here. After her death, the house was purchased from the family and taken into the stewardship of a charitable trust. Following a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2015, the David Parr House underwent a two and a half year conservation project and was re-opened to the public in May 2019.

Those who are interested the David Parr House are invited to join mailing list via the email address listed here, bookings for tours can be made through their website.