This is the secret door concealed behind the fireplace that connects the dwellings of Jocasta Innes, the Cook, Writer & Paint Specialist, and Richard MacCormack, the Architect, in Heneage St. It was my good fortune to step through this doorway upon my very first visit to Spitalfields, many years ago, and I think the wonder of this experience was instrumental in drawing me to this place.
Even then, it was apparent that this extraordinary architectural feature revealed the metaphorical nature of the two different houses it linked, each manifesting their owners’ contrasted sensibilities yet by their connection emblematic of the personal relationship which bound them together. Now Richard MacCormack has published a book entitled Two Houses In Spitalfields with atmospheric photographs by Jan Baldwin that serves as a poignant record of the life he shared there with Jocasta Innes who died last year.
Hallway of Jocasta Innes’ house
Jocasta Innes’ kitchen
Jocasta Innes’ library with portrait of her mother
Chest in Jocasta Innes’ bedroom
Secret door on the landing in Jocasta Innes’ house leading to Richard MacCormack’s house
View back from Richard MacCormack’s house towards the secret door
Stairwell with display of medals belonging to Richard MacCormack’s ancestors
Richard MacCormack’s library
Folding desk in Richard MacCormack’s study
“The two Spitalfields houses, and our lives, were bound together, continually touched by our shared interests. They have many characteristics in common – illusion, allusion, surprise, humour and, of course, colour, but with the distinct identities which reflect us both” – Richard MacCormack
All photographs except exterior shot © Jan Baldwin
Exterior photograph © Hélène Rollin
A limited number of copies for Two Houses in Spitalfields by Richard MacCormack with photographs by Jan Baldwin are available for sale in aid of Maggie’s Centres from www.maccormack.net
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