Open House Festival

Neighbourhoods

Back to neighbourhoods

Walking Westminster

Discover the stories behind London’s most iconic neighbourhoods. From Soho to St James’, Belgravia to Pimlico, these guided walks and tours uncover hidden histories, architectural landmarks, and the people who shaped the area.

This year marks the 52nd anniversary of when the wholesale market ceased trading and moved to the Battersea/Vauxhall area . The tour charts the evolution of Covent Garden, incorporating the piazza, the wholesale produce market, social residential areas and supporting neighbourhoods, and highlighting the social and commercial highs, lows and challenges. Contact tonyganio@gmail.com

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Calling all canal enthusiasts - also known as 'gongoozlers' - to walk through the social and industrial history of Little Venice, Camden Lock, and St Pancras. If you enjoyed Gongoozlers of Regent's Canal & Limehouse Basin in the east (Open House 2024), you will enjoy this new west side story. Discover how a hand-dug canal shaped the lives of West Enders, Londoners, and the United Kingdom.

John Nash, 1820

Drop in

Lillington Gardens Estate

residence, walk/tour

Lillington Gardens in Pimlico, Westminster, was built from 1961 to 1971 by Darbourne & Darke. It set a new standard in high-density public housing with medium-rise structures and private gardens. Blending well with nearby Victorian surroundings, the modernist design won multiple awards and was praised by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'the most interesting recent housing in inner London'.

Darbourne and Darke, 1961

Guided tour

Petty France and its environs

walk/tour

Petty France is a short street with a long history. This walk will time travel from the medieval origins of Petty France through its sensational history to its present distinguished profile. We shall study Charles Holden's 1927 Grade 1 listed London Underground HQ, upstaged in 1976 by Sir Basil Spence's 1976 brutalist monument to modernism, and where the original Queen Anne house was born.

Guided tour

The Making of Pimlico

walk/tour

A walking tour exploring the work of early 19th century master-builder, Thomas Cubitt. Explores how the area has changed and been shaped by some of the important and influential planning, housing and design ideas of its time.

Thomas Cubitt, 1828