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Mr Pinks House in Lewisham

Artspoken

I recently moved to Lewisham, South London and was instantly taken with the most peculiar house in the area. Carved faces live above the door and look towards a busy London road, chipped pastel pink columns hold up the porch and textured pink concrete cover the walls. The house is loud with expression, but at the same time it appears to be wounded with silence.


Intrigue would usually have me knocking on the door and hoping that even with a brief "how do you do" I could get a hint of an interior wall, but the big 'No Trespassing' sign leaves me looking up from beyond the wall.





There are also a few broken windows near the top tower, which during the Halloween period had me imagining fanged bats hanging from the belfry. Those who have lived in the area for some time will know that this used to belong to Mr Brenton Pink and the house was far from haunting. Mr Pink was a charming plant lover who moved to England from Jamaica in 1957 and became a street cleaner for Lewisham Council.


When viewing this house on Lewisham Way he was completely taken with how cheerful it seemed and wanted to keep it that way. So he painted the front doors bright blue and red and added extra features to the faces which topped the pillars and stairs.

He also added pink and blue patterns to the exterior walls and planted a rainbow of petals through-out his garden. He wanted to bring a slice of Jamaica to Lewisham and achieved it with his Caribbean - rococo style.





There is a delightful interview with Mr Pink created by The Garden Museum at Lambeth Palace (see below)


Mr Pink was one of ten people from the Windrush generation chosen to share their gardening stories with the Garden Museum. He comes across as a humble man and one you would certainly be proud to have living in your community.




Sadly Mr Pink died in 2017 and the house and garden are starting to loose it's cheerful colour. From the forums I have read; Mr Pink was much loved and the people of Lewisham would like to see his home and garden restored, lets keep our fingers crossed.



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