{"id":222227,"date":"2026-01-01T20:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T20:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222227\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T20:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T20:11:13","slug":"the-10-bed-home-hosting-theatre-by-the-thames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222227\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10-bed home hosting theatre by the Thames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freddy Tennysonin Deptford<\/p>\n

\"MasterMaster Shipwrights House<\/p>\n

The Master Shipwrights House in Deptford is on the market for \u00a38m<\/p>\n

It’s the last show of the year at the Master Shipwrights House in Deptford, south-east London. <\/p>\n

Tucked behind high brick walls close to the River Thames, you could be forgiven for not even realising there’s a historic 10-bed mansion nestled between the apartment complexes and building sites.<\/p>\n

For the artists and theatre-makers gathered inside, this performance feels like more than just another show.<\/p>\n

But as the house looks for new custodians, many are wondering what the next act will hold.<\/p>\n

\"MasterMaster Shipwrights House<\/p>\n

The house needed a lot of work when it was purchased 27 years ago<\/p>\n

Built in 1708 as the residence of the Master Shipwright to the Royal Naval Dockyard, the Grade II-listed building is one of the few remaining relics of Deptford’s past.<\/p>\n

For the last three decades, it has also functioned as a home, studio and creative hub.<\/p>\n

Willi Richards bought the house in 1998 with his partner Chris Mazeika after they spotted it “over a fence”. At the time, it was derelict, flooded and missing floors.<\/p>\n

“When we first moved in it was on the at-risk register and it was a wreck,” Mr Richards says. <\/p>\n

“Now it’s a stable, viable, water-free, almost wind-free, house,” he adds, with a twinkle in his eye.<\/p>\n

The couple spent years restoring the enormous building, keeping much of its weathered character. <\/p>\n

\"JosephJoseph Winters<\/p>\n

Numerous plays have been staged by The Shipwright theatre<\/p>\n

With distressed walls, mid-century furniture and sweeping views of the river, the house has attracted photographers, filmmakers and designers. <\/p>\n

It has appeared in television dramas including the BBC’s Luther and hosted a Vogue shoot by Mario Testino featuring Kate Moss.<\/p>\n

But Mr Richards says the building’s size, setting and history have naturally lent themselves to something else.<\/p>\n

“The space has dictated the use,” he says. “It’s sky and water and old stories in the very building blocks of the house. <\/p>\n

“It seems to attract people who want to respond to it, and share that response with an audience.”<\/p>\n

\"MasterMaster Shipwrights House<\/p>\n

The house is located on the River Thames in Deptford, south-east London<\/p>\n

Over the years, the couple have invited artists, makers and performers to live and work there, often at pivotal moments in their careers. Among them is Olivier Award-winning actor Hiran Abeysekera, who currently resides at the house.<\/p>\n

Abeysekera first met Mr Richards in 2007, when Mr Richards was in Sri Lanka staging a Tamil-language production of Romeo and Juliet. <\/p>\n

Encouraged to apply to drama school in the UK, he later trained at Rada and was invited to move into the Master Shipwrights House.<\/p>\n

“If I was living elsewhere, I don’t think I would be the same person,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I often think how funny life is, that this is probably where ships were designed and set sail to conquer Sri Lanka, and now I’m living here and creating here.”<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Olivier Award-winning actor Hiran Abeysekera currently lives at the Master Shipwrights House<\/p>\n

In 2020, some of the residents of the house founded The Shipwright theatre production company, partly in response to losing work during the pandemic. <\/p>\n

The company, run by Joe Winters and Emma Halstead, now produces several shows each year, including a summer festival and a winter pantomime.<\/p>\n

Performances take place outside on the lawn or in one of the property’s many rooms.<\/p>\n

As the search for new custodians continues, the company hopes whoever takes on the house will continue its role as a creative incubator.<\/p>\n

“It is genuinely upsetting to think of this space no longer being what it is,” Ms Halstead says. <\/p>\n

“Those two men have been so generous in a time of extreme lack of generosity in the world.”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Willi Richards bought the house in 1998 with his partner Chris Mazeika<\/p>\n

The Master Shipwrights House has been on the market for several months, with an asking price of \u00a38m – a figure that looms large over conversations about its future.<\/p>\n

“There’s no denying it’s a large amount of money,” says Mr Winters. “But we think we punch above our weight in terms of the quality of work that comes out of here. <\/p>\n

“We’ve worked with and developed people just before they’ve gone on to make enormous successes.”<\/p>\n

\"JosephJoseph Winters<\/p>\n

The Master Shipwrights House hosts various events<\/p>\n

He adds that the hope is not simply to preserve the space, but to grow it, potentially opening it up more to the public. <\/p>\n

Despite its size and history, the house is easy to miss from the street, tucked away behind tall Victorian walls.<\/p>\n

For now, the lights are still on and howls of laughter rise from the audience as the final show of the year plays out.<\/p>\n

And as the house waits for its next custodians, those who have lived and worked within its walls hope its story is not ending but quietly preparing for a new beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freddy Tennysonin Deptford Master Shipwrights House The Master Shipwrights House in Deptford is on the market for \u00a38m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-222227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}