Design Postcards: The most photographed house in Notting Hill
This tiny and distinctive building, known as the Bank Robber House, is up for sale.
Dropping by with a quick postcard from London. Enjoy! There’s a chunky post on all your design dilemmas coming on Wednesday for paid subscribers so if you want to know about kitchen lighting, feature walls, bay windows and lots more you need to sign up at the link.
Now, on with today’s post:
There are many distinctive houses in Notting Hill, a part of London so romanticised by filmmakers that it is now synonymous with a sense of quaint, idealised Englishness that feels at odd with the rest of the bustling capital, but this tiny pink house with its red front door is one of the most recognisable (and photographed) in the neighbourhood.
It’s on the market with Knight Frank for £1,250,000, which is steep for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, one sitting room property that measures a total of just 81 sq m, or 870 sq ft – but then it’s always been about location, location, location.
You enter directly from the street to find a single large room with a dining area and kitchen at the rear. A spiral staircase leads down to a bedroom and bathroom (which, in turn, lead to a 9ft x 9ft patio), while another leads up to a private roof terrace.
The property was named after the art gallery Bankrobber London, which used to be opposite, offering works by Banksy, Pete Doherty and Ronnie Kray. The pink house caught the attention of the gallery owners.
Speaking to the London Evening Standard, one of the selling agents said the gallery had spotted the house and used it to showcase some of its works, which were subsequently sold, giving the building its name.
Built as a stable in 1890, it has been pink for years, but apparently it used to be more of a pale pastel shade.
“When they painted it, [the owners] were rushing on a Friday evening. They didn’t realise how bright a pink they were painting it until they woke up the next morning and saw it,” said the agent. “Everyone apparently loved it and other houses in Notting Hill have followed suit and gone for similar colours.”
You can view the interior and fantasise about Hugh Grant knocking at your door here: Knight Frank.
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