Inside London’s Most Eccentric Home: Tour Sue Kreitzman’s Maximalist Flat
This summer, we made friends with an artist who — against all her mum’s hopes — never outgrew the bright red, screaming pink, and chick-yellow she adored as a kid. Visiting her and her surreal home was pure joy. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.
The woman at the heart of our new film treats life as a work of art.
A Bronx native, she completely changed the course of her life at 58, leaving behind an established career as a cookbook author.
Now 85, she lives in London’s East End and shares her home with mannequins, mermaids — and six goddess phones.
She’s funny, fearless, and has absolutely no time for beige.
Meet Sue Kreitzman. One of a kind.
In Their Own Words: Sue on Bold Moves, Late Starts, and Never Betraying Your True Colours
I’m 85. And I’ve had a long and fascinating life. I’m originally from New York City. I’ve been in the UK for 40 years — and in this East End flat for 25. I was very lucky to find it. It’s ex-council, and I’ll be here till they carry me out in a box.
When I was a kid in New York, we always lived in flats — and still said, “Come to my house.” So this is my house. It’s a maisonette, which means it has a second floor. And it’s a double flat, because I was lucky enough to be able to buy the place next door. We broke through the wall and doubled the space. It has a garden, two kitchens, a big living room, and lots of bedrooms. I even have a library — with a friendly eye staring out from the sofa.
Books were always sacred in our family. My mum had strict budgets, but in the bookshop? No limit. We’d get five books from the library each week. Books are still everything.
I never trained as an artist. I just make it up as I go. I’m an outsider artist — untutored, obsessed, and prolific. My work is feminine, playful, and full of stories. It’s all about goddesses, the female landscape, and found objects.
I had a big career. Two, actually. I taught in inner-city schools. Then I wrote 27 cookbooks, had a TV show, ran a cooking school. At 58, I picked up a marker and drew a mermaid. She had snakes and a fish for a hat. No clue where it all came from — she was in charge, not me. That was it. From that moment, I was no longer a cook. I was an artist.
