related to the Holt family, has described aspects of life at Sudley House during his various childhood visits in the 1930s, when it was owned by George Holt's only child, Emma Georgina Holt. According to Melly, her father, who died in 1896, had left an estate valued at over £600,000. The house and the art collection, which is described by ArtUK as being "the only British collection of its kind still in its original setting", were bequeathed to the city in 1944 by Emma Holt and is now (2016) managed by National Museums Liverpool. Refurbishment Sudley House closed for two years for a £1 million refurbishment, re-opening on 26 May 2007. This included redecorating in the Aesthetic style of George Holt's era and also significantly modifying the first floor, where three new attractions were incorporated as follows: Two childhood rooms: how Victorian children learned and played. Exhibits include a large Victorian dolls' house, educational toys, fashion dolls and pots used at mealtimes by rich and poor children. A costume room: regularly changing displays of historic clothing. One such exhibition showed a small part of the vast collection of Emily Tinne and her children, which is held by National Museums Liverpool. A gallery for temporary exhibitions Pevsner says that those modifications create an architectural "tension" between showing the house as a house and as a museum. The ground floor library now includes a display about the Holt family. This includes an introductory film, family portraits and a model of the steamer Verdi, which belonged to the Lamport and Holt shipping company that George Holt had co-founded in 1845. See also Vanessa (Millais painting) References Further reading External links National Museums Liverpool Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Art museums and galleries in Merseyside Museums in Liverpool Historic house museums in Merseyside Holt family