Khadambi Asalache was a Kenyan poet, artist, and author who settled in London and died in 2006.
In 1981, he bought a rundown and dilapidated house at 575 Wandsworth Road and went ahead to transform it into a magnificent built environment.
The house became London’s newest museum after an official opening in 2013 with the items inside kept just the way the owner he had organized them.
It was left to the Nation’s conservation charity, the National Trust after Asalache’s death. The Trust found it so deserving that it was turned into a museum for pre-booked guided tours.
In a report by the BBC, Laura Hussey of the National Trust stated, "I think the house really stands for the power of human endeavor, and for what can be created with time and dedication and love."
The Trust has member charges applying for persons that visit the house. There is also a requirement for visitors to come with a pair of socks or slippers in order to walk on the hand-painted floors.
Due to the delicate nature of the objects in the house, the number of visitors is limited to 2,000 per year with only six guests being hosted at a time.
Interestingly enough, the main raw materials used by Asalache to come up with the carvings of decorations in the house were salvaged from rubbish dumps in the area.
He even made use of fretsaw to offer new looks to discarded doors and boxes.
Asalache was born in Kenya and studied architecture in Nairobi before going to study art in Rome, Geneva, and Vienna.
He is credited for the production of poems and novels. He also worked with the Treasury in London after a spell with BBC Africa.
See photos of the inside of the house that is a museum in London.
