Sutton House
2 & 4 Homerton High Street, Hackney, London E9 6JQ
Hackney isn’t renowned for historic properties, but this brick-built National Trust Tudor house, incongruously surrounded by scruffy streets on the fringes of Homerton, is an exception. In fact, it’s the oldest residential building in the borough, built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir, a courtier of Henry VIII, and subsequently home to sea captains, Huguenot silk weavers, a boys’ school and finally squatters. Inside, the spacious rooms are elegantly lined with gleaming oak – the Linenfold Room is a rare example of relief-carved panelling – plus there’s a leafy courtyard and an authentic Tudor kitchen. An exhibition tells the story of the generations of residents of Sutton House, and all in all you can (should you want to) make believe you’re not really in Hackney at all.
