The Man Who Painted His House

A short film about art, labour and devotion by Dr Vicky Mills and Lily Ford. The man who painted his house is David Parr, a Victorian working-class decorative artist apprenticed to the Cambridge firm F. R. Leach & Sons. Parr worked for leading designers linked to the Arts and Crafts Movement, including William Morris, and in 1886 he saved enough money to buy a house for himself and his family. Parr painstakingly hand painted his modest terraced house in Cambridge inspired by the intricately patterned style of the Arts & Crafts interiors on which he worked during the day.

The film explores Parr’s story through observations of the house and its use today, a visit to All Saint’s Church where he worked, archival material, and an original score for viola and piano.

The Man Who Painted His House invites a wider conversation about artistic legacy, Parr’s overlooked status as an ‘art-workman’ and the relationship between art and labour in the nineteenth century. It is linked to a British Academy-funded research project led by Dr Mills titled ‘Art, Labour and Devotion: Uncovering the Victorian Art-Workman’.

Dr Mills notes that ‘in its exploration of the life and work of working-class decorative artist David Parr, The Man Who Painted His House builds on my research into the hidden histories of Victorian art-workmen, critically challenging accounts of Victorian art and design that focus on the ambitions and creations of privileged, wealthy men.'

The musical score is a contemporary classical composition for viola and piano written specially for the project by Richard Uttley.

Film launching 27 June 2025