Little Holland House
What Visitors Say
Great visit today! I had initially booked to make sure I could get in but I was the only person there. I was welcomed by a really nice guy called Sam (5* to him), and had a super informative tour! Will be back in the new year to check out Franks shed in the garden, as it was too dark and wet to head up Such an interesting place with lots of really interesting touches!
If you are interested in the Arts & Crafts movement, or even just in what an 'ordinary' couple can do in designing and building a house then a visit here is a must. Designed and self-built by Frank Dickinson and his wife in the early years of the 20th century we were frankly amazed by what they had achieved not just in the structure but also in the furniture, carving metalwork and embroidery. The volunteers on site are friendly welcoming and very knowledgable. Free entry, and no need to book, easy on street parking outside - all in all this was an amazing find which we thoroughly recommend!
This Arts and Crafts style detached house was designed and built by one man, Frank Dickinson (with the assistance of his wife and a bricklayer). This is a true snapshot of the early 1900s and it has been changed very little in the intervening years. The story of the house and it's designer is beautifully explained by the volunteer staff, when you visit you'll be amazed by the variety of skills Frank developed, from painting to metalworking. This was an hour well spent.
Little Holland House should be open today, the 3rd of August 2025, but it is closed. No information on their website. Very disappointing and not visitor friendly.
A brilliant time warp that you must see! Sadly not open very often, but when it is well worth the visit.
Highlights
Hand-Made Interiors
Dickinson designed and crafted the fixed woodwork, cupboards and seating as part of a unified interior.Run your eye along the tool marks and repeating motifs—pattern and joinery act like ‘architecture you can read’.
Ground-floor rooms
Arts & Crafts Furniture & Metalwork
Chairs, tables, light fittings and fire irons were made to measure for the rooms they inhabit.Spot how hammered metal and carved oak share the same motifs—crafts designed to rhyme across materials.
Parlour and dining room
Paintings & Decorative Panels
Dickinson’s paintings, inscriptions and stencilling weave moral and literary references into the fabric of the house.Look for Arts & Crafts mottoes and stylised plant forms—visual footnotes to Ruskin/Morris thinking.
Stair hall and first-floor rooms
House as Gesamtkunstwerk
Conceived as a unified work—architecture, furniture, decoration and garden planned together.Compare room proportions to built-in pieces—they lock together like a puzzle designed by one hand.
Whole property
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
Frank R. Dickinson designed and built the house in the early 20th century with minimal hired labour; he and his wife furnished it with his own carving, metalwork and textiles.
Little Holland House is a rare suburban example of an intact Arts & Crafts artist-maker’s home, preserving both the building and the ensemble of original contents in situ.
Design throughout the house shows clear influence from John Ruskin and William Morris—hand craftsmanship, honest materials and domestic beauty over showy ornament.
