23-24 Leinster Gardens (False Houses)

A real house (left) and a fake house (right).

Leinster Gardens, Bayswater, is a wonderful place to find mid-Victorian terraced houses, lining the majority of one side of the road. Some of these buildings are listed as Grade II or Grade II*, including the 'Leinster Arms' public house.

However, midway along the western side there are some false houses, which are barely distinguishable from the other homes along the street. It is not until you get up close to them that these false facades are more noticeable.

Unlike the homes either side of numbers 23-24, these buildings have fake doors with no letter boxes and the windows are painted a grey colour. 

The facades match perfectly with the rest of the terrace, including balustraded balconies, above columned porches, that are shared with their neighbours.

Walking with Keilyn: Marylebone to Kensington Gardens... and beyond

A small piece of Japan in London.

Wednesday May 29, 2024.

Another half-term for the girls and another walk for Keilyn and myself.

Normal beginning with a taxi to Watford underground station, from where we caught a train to Harrow-on-the-Hill, where we switched to the Chiltern Flyer to Marylebone. Various signal and points issues had disrupted the Metropolitan, Circle and District lines, so this was our backup route.

Harrow-on-the-Hill underground station.

Arriving at Marylebone station we left the station and walked along Daventry Street towards Edgware Road, where we turned on to Edgware Road, before turning right and headed down Praed Street.

'Real Time' by Maarten Baas.

Our first stop was at the corner of Eastbourne Terrace, where we stopped to watch the 'Man in a Clock', which is an installation by Maarten Baas, a Dutch artist. The work is called 'Real Time' and has a man perpetually cleaning the clock face and wiping off the clock hands and then repainting them, every minute. It is fun to stare at.

Leinster Gardens facade.

Continuing down Craven Hill our next stop was Leinster Gardens, where I convinced Keilyn to knock on the giant black doors. Her face when she discovered that they were not real was priceless, as she exclaimed, "It's fake!"

Behind the Leinster Gardens facade.

We stopped for a coffee and a hot chocolate at The Central Pantry, before heading to Porchester Terrace, so that I could show Keilyn the rear of the false buildings.

The Round Pond.

From here we headed down Porchester Terrace and, after crossing Bayswater Road, entered Kensington Gardens. A slow walk along the tree-lined path brought us to the Round Pond, where coots, ducks, geese, moorhens and swans made a raucous sound, as visitors got too close to their young.

Keilyn at Kensington Palace.

We headed towards the Queen Victoria Statue and entered the grounds of Kensington Palace, taking photos of the palace, its gates and the statue of William III of Orange. Following Studio Walk we found ourselves on Palace Green with its various embassies and armed police protection.

The beautiful Barkers building, Kensington High Street.

We left here and joined Kensington High Street and searched out a shop to replenish our water supply and grad some more snacks. Suitably stocked we continued along the high street, passing the impressive Barkers building and Japan House, before we found ourselves on Melbury Road.

It was along this road that we to see two more things of interest. 

The gnomes have a bar.

The first was a Gnome Garden, which, as its name suggests, is a Gnome Garden... pure and simple. However, the effort and time put into this small front garden was impressive and Keilyn and I kept spotting different things on each inspection.