The Fake Houses of London – Why Some Homes Are Just Facades
Next time you're wandering Bayswater near Hyde Park, you might notice something odd about numbers 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens—they look like grand Victorian townhouses, but there's nothing behind their walls. These are London’s legendary dummy houses, built purely as a clever disguise. Here’s the intriguing story behind them.
Victorian Elegance Meets Underground Engineering
Back in the 1860s, London was booming—and so was its thirst for innovation. The Metropolitan Railway, now part of today’s Circle and District Lines, was the world’s first underground railway. The cut-and-cover method meant digging trenches through streets, laying tracks, then covering them up again.
One section sliced straight through Leinster Gardens. To vent the steam and smoke from coal-powered trains, engineers needed open-air spaces amid the tunnels. Naturally, locals in this upscale area didn't want unsightly gaps cutting through their elegant terraces.
Solution? In 1868, Transport for London (then the Metropolitan Railway Company) built the “fake houses”—just facades of brick and stucco finely detailed to match their neighbors. Each is about 1.5 meters deep, with no rooms behind—just a ventilation shaft and tracks
Deception by Design
From the front, these facades are nearly indistinguishable from real houses:
Ionic column porches with balustraded balconies
Upper-storey sash windows framed by Corinthian columns
Pedimented window heads, cornices, and rich white stonework
Look closer—no letterboxes, no doormats, windows blocked and painted solid grey. Even delivery drivers still fall for it today—pizza orders and taxis are common prank material .
A Functional Feature Hidden in Plain Sight
Those two facades hide more than meets the eye. Behind them is:
An open-air section of the Metropolitan Railway
A ventilation shaft where steam trains expelled smoke
Steel girders spanning street level, concealing rail tracks at ground level
Once the Underground was electrified, steam became obsolete. Yet the facades stayed—preserved now as Grade II listed architectural gems
More Than Just Pretty Faces
The facades have woven themselves into London's quirky cultural tapestry:
1930s charity ball scam: con artists sold tickets to an event at one of the fake houses—guests arrived in full evening dress to find nothing but blank walls
Sherlock’s cameo: Leinster Gardens popped up in the BBC’s Sherlock episode "His Last Vow"—perfect backdrop for a story about appearances and secrets
What facadism Reveals About London
This is a stellar example of facadism—where streetscape consistency takes precedence over interior reality. It’s common across Europe and North America, where utility often hides behind handsome walls.
Architectural critic’s opinion on this practice? It can be both ingenious and deceptive, saving heritage aesthetics but sacrificing substance .
Why It Still Matters Today
Historic engineering brilliance: Victorian problem-solving preserved both function and fashion.
Blend of utility and artistry: Beneath something purely technical, there’s elegance—you don’t see the railway, but you do see Victorian beauty.
Urban curiosity: It's a hidden gem for walkers, a favorite on history tours, and a go-to mention for London trivia! .
How to Visit & Explore
Located at 23–24 Leinster Gardens, W2, a short stroll from Queensway or Bayswater tube stations.
Walk south, then loop around Porchester Terrace to see the open rear, complete with girders and street-level tracks
Bring some coin—some locals joke that TfL still receives mail at the “address” .
Final Thoughts
The fake houses at Leinster Gardens are more than a novelty—they’re a snapshot of Victorian London, showing how it balanced innovation with elegance. Behind those pretty walls lies the guts of a revolution in public transport that defined the city.
So next time you pass a neoclassical terrace, ask yourself: Is it really a home, or just a façade protecting progress?
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