The exterior of Leighton House seen from the back garden.

Leighton House Museum, on the corner of Holland Park in London, is to be returned closer to its original spectacular appearance thanks to a £1.3 million programme of refurbishment and restoration.

The 21st century upgrade is to be funded by Kensington and Chelsea Council and will include complete rewiring, upgrading of the central heating system in order to create the right environmental conditions to preserve the museum’s paintings and the restoration of the original sumptuous decoration.

The former studio-house of the great Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), the house is widely thought to be one of the most extraordinary buildings of the 19th century.

"Leighton House is a fantastic museum but the building is in need of some care and attention,” said Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environmental Management and Leisure. “By restoring the services which maintain the fabric of the building we will help secure its future for at least another century to come.”

New research and paint analysis carried out over recent years has confirmed that Leighton’s original decorative schemes differed in several important respects from the current appearance of the interiors.

The Arab Hall, Leighton House Museum. Picture © Leighton House Museum

The floors in the dining room and drawing room were painted red and blue respectively. The dome of the Arab Hall was gilded whilst other features, such as the original floorboards on the first floor, which survive beneath modern flooring laid over them in the 1960s are to be revealed and restored.

By August 2008, the most distinctive feature of the exterior of Leighton House will also be reinstated. These are the brick ziggurats that ran around the parapet wall of the Arab Hall and Silk Room until they were removed in 1959.

“I very much look forward to seeing the changes and additions to the house when it reopens in 2009,” added Cllr Paget-Brown.

The museum will close on October 31 2008 for 12 months to allow the full restoration to be completed.