Sherlock Holmes' flat

Tuesday 31 January 2012


There are three radio dramatisations I regularly love to listen to whilst I am painting and never seem to tire of: PG Wodehouse, Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. I am also just a general fan of anything Sherlock Holmes, so it was interesting to watch the recent and enjoyable bbc series of Sherlock Holmes on TV, which is set in modern day London. Somehow though, the flat was good but just didn't seem quite right.



And I couldn't help but wonder what I would imagine Sherlock Holmes' flat to look like, especially a modern day version. I imagined it to still have a lot of curiosities and odd objects around,


especially Asian antique ephemera. Holmes was an opium addict, which unfortunately would have translated well to modern day but perhaps not for the bbc!



I think there would also be evidence of some odd projects and experiments going on. This mixologist's kitchen with its' test tubes and funny equipment (as photographed by the Selby) is along the lines of the kind of place I imagine. I think there would also be a pantry too. A lot of the properties on Baker Street still seem to have this funny architectural remnant.



And despite having a computer, I think Sherlock would still have a lot of paper mess and piles of papers.



The general mood of this feels right, as do many of the flats photographed by the Selby. They have the right degree of mess!



This bedroom is also along the right lines, although it is a little too interior designed. Tell me, what would you imagine a modern day Sherlock Holmes' flat to look like?

Images: Baker Street tube from the Guardian, via apartment therapy, Steven Martin, Tony Colebrook's flat The Selby, unknown, Sean McPherson's place via the Selby, Hubert Zandberg;s apartment via Litwin Davies

2 comments:

Mlle Paradis said...

if i were to use my hubby as a frame of reference in this exercise......(modern english "gentleman") i would have to say that it's possible that we'd have to keep the messy part and leave out the photogenic aspect! (sorry hubs!)

let's go back to talking about jewelry, have i mentioned lately what a bad influence you are on me?!

buddy2blogger said...

Always a pleasure to meet a Sherlockian :)

Have you tried the Russian adaptation with Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes..

Cheers!