31 And 33, Wimbledon Park Road Sw18

Semi-detached houses dating from the mid-19th century, with later alterations, located on Wimbledon Park Road.

EXTERIOR

Each house is constructed of yellow stock brick and stands three storeys plus basement, measuring four windows wide beneath a hipped, slated roof with brick chimney stacks. A coupled, stuccoed Doric porch positioned at the centre of the principal elevation surrounds both front doors, each accessed by a short flight of steps. The doors are timber with glazed upper panels. Windows feature gauged flat arches and are all timber sashes; those on the ground and first floors are four-pane (late-Victorian replacements), while those in the attic are six-pane (original). No. 31 has a two-storey single-bay wing to the east, a later extension.

Both houses have been extended to the rear at different dates. No. 31 has a raised ground-floor bay window supported on timber posts, shown in photographs of around 1900, though its precise construction date is unknown. A conservatory-like extension to the left of this bay window dates probably from the mid-19th century, though much altered; it appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1869 and in photographs of around 1900. No. 33's rear has been remodelled several times according to historical maps and building fabric; its raised ground-floor and basement extension to the west are modern. Windows to the rear of No. 33 are either four- or six-pane sashes, sashes with marginal glazing, or modern timber windows.

INTERIOR

Each house retains its original staircase with polished timber handrail, carved string, and turned balusters. The entrance halls in both houses feature modillion cornices, dado rails, and skirting boards. Ground-floor north-west and south-east facing reception rooms retain original picture rails, cornices, and shutters; these features also survive in the south-east facing reception room of No. 31. Upstairs rooms contain surviving cornices, picture rails, architraves, and doors, although fireplaces have been replaced throughout except for one in the attic of No. 33.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

These mid-19th-century houses were home to the novelist George Eliot (1819–1880, born Mary Anne Evans) and George Henry Lewes. No. 31, originally named Holly Lodge, was their residence from February 1859 to September 1860. The couple lived as man and wife from 1854 onwards, though never officially married, and remained together until Lewes' death in 1878.

Eliot was already celebrated when she moved to Holly Lodge, having published Amos Barton in 1857 and Adam Bede in 1859. She wrote The Mill on the Floss whilst resident here, completing it on 21 March 1860, with a dedication to Lewes describing it as "written in the 6th year of our life together, at Holly Lodge, South Fields, Wandsworth". Visitors during her time included Charles Dickens, Herbert Spencer, and Wilkie Collins.

In a letter to Sarah Hennell dated 19 February 1859, Eliot described the house as "a tall cake, with a low garnish of holly and laurel", noting its "glorious breezy walks, and wide horizons, well-ventilated rooms, and abundant water". However, by June she had grown dissatisfied, writing to Mrs Richard Congreve of her wish to leave, complaining of the neighbouring "houses full of eyes" and finding the Wandsworth location inconvenient.

On 3 August 1905, a London County Council blue plaque was erected at No. 31, marking the first instance of the Council awarding a plaque to a woman and the first in South London. The Wandsworth Traders' Association had proposed Holly Lodge for commemoration; the suggestion was enthusiastically received by the then tenant, Arnold Wright (editor of the London Argus), and the owner, the Revd Elphinstone Rivers, Vicar of Eltham. The Council Clerk identified Holly Lodge as Eliot's London house with the strongest biographical connection. A second plaque was erected at 4 Cheyne Walk in 1949, marking where she died in 1880.