Leinster Gardens fake houses, London

Leinster Gardens in Bayswater, London, has a row of opulent 5 storey houses. They look rather grand. However 23-24 Leinster Gardens is a fake. It is not a house at all. It is merely a facade to hide a gap where there are no houses.

This facade was built in 1860 to cover gaps left by the building of the London Underground. The railway line, which now forms part of the District and Circle line, between Paddington and Bayswater. This was in the days of steam trains, and the technique used is called "cut and cover". The trench for the tunnel was dug, the walls shored up and covered by an overhead support.

Two houses were knocked down in 1868 to make space for the locomotives to give off fumes, which was done in an attempt to cut down on smoke within the tunnels.

Interestingly, last year, 2019, I went to see a steam train run on the District line.

The real and fake houses look identical, with the same columns, balconies, windows and decoration. But if you look closely, you will see the windows are blackened. 

One giveaway is that the roof is different, the attic windows at the very top are missing -

In the past, practical jokers have called for food deliveries to the fake house!

I then walked round to Porchester Terrace to see the rear view.

This photo from the Daily Mail 3 Oct 2019 shows the railway tunnel and line -

A Google Earth image