How John Keats’ Hampstead Home Still Inspires
John Keats (one of England’s favourite Romantic poets) found inspiration in Hampstead, and his house on Keats Grove continues to draw visitors who want to step into the poet’s world.
Originally built as a pair of houses, the poet resided in one half, and his friend Charles Brown (a literary critic) lived in the other.
Keats House gives us a close look at John’s life. Sharing not just his work but the calm beauty that shaped his writing. John’s illness from TB (caring for his seriously ill brother) meant that he died just 25.
Keats House is where John Keats wrote many of his best-known poems, including “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. Living in this leafy part of Hampstead gave him space to think, write and recover from heartbreak and illness.
The setting helped shape his verse, and standing in the same rooms lets you sense the quiet that guided his words.
The house itself is a well-preserved piece of late Georgian design, built in 1815. Its light-filled rooms, elegant fireplaces and pretty sash windows show off the style of the period.
The lovely gardens are perfect for a stroll, and it’s easy to imagine Keats wandering among the flowers as he searched for new ideas. The house’s simple charm helps connect visitors with the past in a direct, heartfelt way.
