Carlyle's House

Carlyle's House is 24 Cheyne Row, a 1708 terrace house in Chelsea that Thomas and Jane Carlyle rented in 1834 as the cheapest they could find, when he was an unknown Scottish writer with no steady income. Within three years his history of the French Revolution, written here, had made him one of the most famous writers of the Victorian age, though the Trust is frank that his work also carried racist and antisemitic views condemned even in his day. Jane never published, but her witty letters are a vital record of the era, and her charm helped draw Darwin, Thackeray, Dickens, Ruskin and Tennyson to the house. The rooms look much as Robert Tait painted them in A Chelsea Interior: see Jane's piano, once played by Chopin, the necklace given to her by Goethe, the basement kitchen with its well, and the attic study built to be soundproof that Jane called the noisiest room in the house. Reviewers praise the knowledgeable volunteer guides and how little the house has changed since the Carlyles lived here. Tips from visitors: it opens on limited days, so check before travelling and book tickets online in advance.