In the 1860s, London was pioneering the world's first underground railway network, the Metropolitan Railway. However, before electric trains took over, these early subterranean journeys relied on coal-fired steam locomotives. To prevent passengers from suffocating in pitch-black, smoke-filled tunnels, engineers designed open-cut sections along the route.
Here, drivers could engage condensing tanks to temporarily store steam, but the engine still needed periodic open-air stretches to vent accumulated smoke, steam, and soot. When the railway line was cut through the affluent neighborhood of Bayswater, two grand Victorian townhouses at 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens were demolished to create an open air gap for the tracks below. The sudden gap in an otherwise pristine, upscale terrace enraged wealthy locals who felt it ruined the neighborhood's prestige and aesthetic symmetry.
To appease the residents, the railway company constructed a pair of 5-foot-thick false facades in 1868. Designed to perfectly match the neighboring Greek Revival townhouses, these dummy fronts featured matching porticos, neoclassic balustrades, and sash windows. However, a keen observer will notice that the dark windows are simply painted wood, the front doors have no letterboxes or handles, and behind the top balustrades, there is only open sky.
Behind the wall, heavy steel girders brace the facade over the exposed railway tracks below. Over the decades, the fake houses became a local legend and the site of famous pranks, including a 1930s scam where a fraudster sold high-society charity ball tickets hosted at number 23, leaving elegant guests in ballgowns knocking on a solid wooden panel.