Lauderdale House

Built in 1582 as a Merchant's House and set in the beautiful Waterlow Park, Lauderdale House is a Grade II listed building and now runs primarily as an arts and education centre, welcoming over 65,000 visitors each year.

Exhibitions & Fairs

From the work of impressionist Ivor Lewis and the paintings and prints of Sirpa Moghissi and Carole Moffat to the photography of Nick Smith, we welcome work from a diverse range of visual artists. We also provide a valuable platform for local talent, with annual exhibitions by the Hampstead School of Art, the Highgate Watercolour Group and the annual Photographic and Pride in the House Competitions.

Nell Gwynne's Bath

Lauderdale House is the proud owner of the only surviving Restoration-period buffet still in its original location. Known as 'Nell Gwynne's Bath' after Lauderdale House's most famous resident, this alcove is called a 'bath' because of its intricate marble features which gave it the appearance of a public bath. It was created as a place to display the household's gold and silver plate and comprises an oak-panelled recess with a detailed marquetry inlaid ceiling, Corinthian pilasters and architrave, intricately carved cornice featuring flowers, fruit and foliage, and an unusual marble floor.

Park & Cafe

Whether you’re attending an event at the house or simply in Highgate and looking for a quiet bolthole, a visit to Lauderdale’s hidden gem of a restaurant is a must.

Take a seat in the bright indoor space or at one of the al fresco picnic tables and drink in the views of Waterlow Park, while you feast on mains like escalope Milanese, lasagna and fish and chips, a simple home-made sandwich or an indulgent slice of lemon drizzle cake.

Kids' Termly Workshops

There are lots of activities available for children at Lauderdale House. We’re committed to encouraging creativity in children, which is why we’ve designed a colourful calendar of hands-on music, art and drama classes. Our in-house programme is augmented by courses run by well-respected groups such as Suzuki Violin and Mini Mozart. You can also keep your children occupied in their school breaks with our special holiday programmes, which include painting classes led by a professional artist and cool crafting workshops.

Outreach

Our hard work continues beyond our building’s four walls. We run a schools programme that assists with the education of more than 500 schoolchildren each year by using fresh, fun and engaging teaching methods.

In addition, we arrange for professional artists to work alongside young people who – through demographic, health or economic reasons – may find arts activities difficult to access.

The classes, led by our Arts Education Officer, are a supplement to the curriculum and can afford to use more fresh, fun and engaging teaching methods.

The schools take part in the following subjects:

History in the House: Lessons cover the Tudors, the Victorians and World War II.

Tree Dressing: Lessons take place in Waterlow Park with the children ‘adopting a tree’ and monitoring its development, and the species that use it as their habitat, through the seasons.

Arts: Our Arts Education Officer devises an art project tailored to the curriculum needs of each class. The children make an initial visit to Lauderdale House before our Education Officer makes two follow-up trips to the school where the children work on creating art.

All the art that is made is exhibited at our annual Schools Day in June when the children proudly see their work displayed and also admire the creations of pupils from other schools. On the day, all the children that took part in our Schools Programme descend on the House and enjoy activities like pavement drawing, environmental touch boxes and a birds of prey display.  

Our programme represents a fun and refreshing change to the timetable. Also, as classes go beyond rigid curriculum requirements they make for inventive, enjoyable experiences where the children can learn from the world around them. 

For many children, the schools programme serves as an introduction to Lauderdale House, too. We hope it will be the start of a lifelong relationship with the House where we can positively impact their lives through leisure or learning. 

Sandford Award

In 2011 Lauderdale House was one of only 25 national organisations (others included the Tower of London, Durham Cathedral and Edinburgh Castle) to receive the Sandford Award for Heritage Education. The citation read:

‘The great strength of Lauderdale House’s education service is its tailored, in-depth interaction with the children who visit. The follow-up visits to the schools reinforce learning and allow the Education Officer to be a real part of the process. This ensures that the visit to Lauderdale House is more than a day out.'

Mini Mozart

Introduces children aged 1-4 to the delights of music in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

The toddlers' class starts at 9.30 with classes taking place each Tuesday during term time. For more information, including term times, visit www.minimozart.com or call 07958 970073.