Jack Nash, on the right, shaking hands with the Lord Mayor, Councillor Reg Scott, who officially opened The House That Jack Built on 26th May 1982. The Lord Mayor said, "I think Jack and his family have made a great contribution to the amenities of this area, and spoke of the "tremendous potential" of the Barbican itself. 

The premises now known as The House That Jack Built was formerly used as a warehouse for the family run wholesale fruit and veg business, James L. Nash Ltd. Over many years on his trips to Cornwall, Jack was inspired by the Sloop Craft Market in St.Ives, which offered small units to local artists, painters, potters, weavers and silversmiths, creating a great buzz. Jack, an artist himself, understood the frustration of finding suitable premises to work in, and had recently met, and had given over his own studio 25 The Parade to Robert Lenkiewicz, who was very pleased indeed, adjacent to which he painted the Elizabethan mural in the early 1970's.

Realising the fruit and veg warehouse could be put to much better use, Jack started the two year transformation into The House That Jack Built, featuring 11 mullion windowed Dickensian style shop fronts, meandering corridors, fountains and ponds, fantasy scenes where dragons and gnomes frolic in the leafy dells. Jack's motivation was to provide an outlet for people to produce and market their creations in the public eye.