THE PATTERN MAKERS

IN WEST LONDON, A HISTORIC WALLPAPER FACTORY STIRS TO LIFE, INVITING DESIGN DEVOTEES TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ARTS AND CRAFTS TITANS.

- STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX

Voysey House's striking white glazed brick facade was restored by dMFK Architects.

IT'S RAINING ON THE RIVER THAMES. From inside Emery Walker's meticulously preserved dining room, walls clad in original William Morris hand-blocked wallpaper-his iconic Willow pattern, with green leaves on a unique blue ground with bubble-like circles that, today especially, call to mind water droplets-it's almost impossible to distinguish inside from out. Except I'm dry, of course, and the lush green wisteria vines and rosebushes that ramble right up to the blue-gray river rushing past are not.

Walker, a 19th-century printer, engraver, and photographer, was a key figure in England's Arts and Crafts movement, owing much to his friendship with neighbor and fellow printer Morris. Walker's house, now a museum, is just a short walk from Kelmscott House, where Morris lived from 1878 until his death in 1896 and the next stop on my tour of design landmarks in London's Hammersmith and Chiswick neighborhoods. Although the upper floors are still a private residence, Kelmscott Coach House (on the basement level) is home to the William Morris Society, which runs a museum dedicated to the artist-writer's life and ideas, particularly the role of creativity and craftsmanship in contemporary life.

At both stops, as I gaze about the textiles, books, and other decorative arts objects Walker and Morris collected and I admire their gardens, still blooming, I am struck by the idyll that endures, right in the heart of the city. This was surely intentional for these late-Victorian Arts and Crafts artists, an effort to insulate themselves from London's rapid industrialization with bastions of handmade and natural beauty.