2 Best Sights in East London, London

The remarkable interiors of this extraordinary time machine of a house are the creation of Dennis Severs (1948–99), a performer-designer-scholar from Escondido, California, who dedicated his life to restoring this Georgian terraced house. More than that, he created "still-life dramas" using sight, sound, and smell to evoke the world of a fictitious family of Huguenot silk weavers, the Jervises, who might have inhabited the house between 1728 and 1914. Each of the 10 rooms has a distinctive compelling atmosphere that encourages visitors to become lost in another time, deploying evocative design details like rose-laden Victorian wallpaper, Jacobean paneling, Georgian wingback chairs, baroque carved ornaments, rich "Catholic" wall colors downstairs, and more sedate "Protestant" shades upstairs.

The Silent Night candlelight tour, a stroll through the rooms with no talking allowed, is the most theatrical and memorable way to experience the house. The Denis Severs Tour draws upon recently discovered recordings and writings to re-create the tours that the artist himself gave when he first opened the house in 1980. Check the website for tour days and times.

Built by a courtier to King Henry VIII, this Tudor mansion has since been home to merchants, Huguenot silk weavers, and, in the 1980s, a group of arty squatters. The house dates back to 1535, when Hackney was a village on the outskirts of London surrounded by fields. Later, in 1751, it was split into two self-contained houses. Its oak-paneled rooms, tranquil courtyard, and award-winning community garden are an unexpected treat in an area that's yet to entirely shake off its grit. Visits to the house are self-led during open hours or guided tours can be prebooked online. They take place on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 11 am and 2 pm, plus 3:30 pm on Sunday.