Emery Walker’s House at 7 Hammersmith Terrace is one of 17 tall, narrow houses, built on the north bank of the River Thames between Chiswick Mall and Lower Mall in the 1750s.   Back then, Hammersmith and Chiswick were still villages, several miles west of the fringes of London. The street would still have looked quite rural and was bordered on the north by market gardens.   By the time Emery Walker moved into the Terrace in the late 1870s the character of the area, and of the Terrace, had changed a great deal. The market gardens had given way to smaller houses and industry such as waterworks, breweries, and timber wharves.   Despite the changes, the area remained popular with various artists because of the beauty of its riverside location.

 Edward Johnston’s daughter, in her father's biography, said that the houses on Hammersmith Terrace had:  'basements and no bathrooms – not so much as a tap above the ground floor – but they had great charm and a wonderful view and little gardens running down to the river wall.'

​The author, AP Herbert, whose blue plaque can be seen at No. 12, described the terrace as having:  something, perhaps, of an old village and something of a Cathedral Close, something of Venice and something of the sea.' ( 'The House by the River', 1920).

​ Hammersmith Terrace became a particular 'hot spot' for members of the Arts & Crafts Movement. They  visited each others' homes regularly and often congregated around the post box at the end of the terrace for a late night chat while catching the last post.