12, Langford Place

12 Langford Place, St John's Wood, is a house and former sculptor’s studio complex built around 1882 by Mr Tall, architect, for the sculptor John Adams-Acton RA (1830-1910). It is attached to the east side of 14 Langford Place. The building is constructed of Kentish ragstone ashlar facing with Portland stone dressings, wooden barge-boards, and a slate roof.

The plan features a slender, deep layout to the right of the adjoining house, with a projecting, single-story bay including a glazed canopy. The exterior displays sharp, twin gables with fretted barge-boards, containing pointed, narrow windows. All front windows have leaded glass with decorative coloured glass margins. Two-light square windows are found at the first floor level. A gabled projection on the ground floor has a curved, glazed hood over three trefoil-headed lights. A stone inscription tablet below bears text from St John's Gospel xvii, 21: 'That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me'. A narrow link connects to the left, incorporating a balcony on the first floor. To the right of the projecting bay is a narrow, arched window in a stone surround. A modern ground floor section is present to the right, including an arched opening that replaced a former recessed window. Above this is a first-floor area with herringbone brick panels beneath an arcade of arched windows with decorative leadwork, and rectangular lights above. A glazed dormer window is located to the side of the eastern gable.

The interior is believed to have been considerably altered, although some decorative features may remain. The adjunct, formerly called ‘Sunnyside’, was built for John Adams-Acton, a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, known for statues of Gladstone (Blackburn), John Wesley (City Road, Finsbury), Cardinal Manning (Westminster Cathedral), and the Cruickshank memorial in St Paul's Cathedral. The studio complex originally included carving and painting rooms, and a long, top-lit sculpture gallery. It is said that the actress Sarah Bernhardt attempted to rent the house at one time. The building is listed for its distinctive exterior and interesting historical associations.