From Big Ben to its hidden corners, London is a city brimming with beauty, history, and stories waiting to be discovered. One such story lies tucked away at Leinster Gardens, a seemingly ordinary street known for its charming mid-Victorian terraced houses. But look a little closer, and you’ll spot something unusual: a pair of convincingly designed fake homes hiding in plain sight. So, why do these houses exist? Well, if you’re a Sherlock fan, you might already have a clue!
Why Does London’s Leinster Gardens Have Fake Houses?
London’s Leinster Gardens is lined with tall, ornate mid-Victorian houses, many of which are listed buildings, structures of special architectural or historical significance that are protected in the UK. Located in the quiet Bayswater area, this residential street is famous for hiding one of the city’s strangest secrets.
As you walk along the street, it looks perfectly normal, just like any other English street lined with elegant Victorian homes. But look a little closer at numbers 23 and 24, and you’ll notice something unusual: they’re actually fake. These “houses” are nothing more than facades, with no real homes behind them.
The doors don’t open, the windows are simply painted on, and there aren’t even any letterboxes. To uncover the truth, you have to go behind the street, and that’s where you’ll find empty space and railway tracks dating back to the 1860s.
At the time, London was building the world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway. Mind you, these were steam trains, which produced a significant amount of smoke. Engineers needed an open-air gap in the tracks to allow the smoke to escape which happened to be in the now Leinster Gardens area. However, residents in this upscale neighbourhood didn’t want a gap in their street. So, the solution? Build elegant, Victorian-style facades to hide it, keeping appearances intact while concealing what lay behind.
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Sherlock Fans, Assemble!
The “homes” here are actually just facades, about five feet thick. If you go behind them, you’ll see the open railway tracks that still run through the space. Now, if you’re a Sherlock fan, you might already recognise Leinster Gardens from the show. In the episode ‘The Empty Hearse’, the fake houses at numbers 23 and 24 are used as a cover by an underground terrorist network. It’s a perfect example of how Sherlock blends fact with fiction, using a real, unusual London location and turning it into a key part of the story.
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London’s Leinster Gardens is a perfect example of something being “hidden in plain sight!”
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Why are there fake homes in London?
London has 'fake homes' to hide railway infrastructure from the 1860s, while keeping the neighbourhood looking elegant.
Where are the fake home in London built?
The fake houses are built in London’s Leinster Gardens area.
Did London's fake home feature in Sherlock?
Yes, in the episode ‘The Empty Hearse’.