We head to Leinster Gardens, where two houses are built like a film set. But what are they hiding?
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00:00 Everything is not as it seems on Leinster Gardens in West London. Along this beautiful
00:08 street lies a little-known mystery created in the 1800s. The street just behind reveals
00:15 a fascinating secret about two houses on one of London's most iconic roads that is now
00:20 a tourist hotspot. Tucked away in Paddington, in between the station and the world-famous
00:26 Hyde Park is Leinster Gardens, a street that might appear normal to the average person.
00:33 But those with an eagle eye will spot that two large buildings between two fancy hotels
00:39 have been boarded up, and that's because they are props. Yep, that's right. Like a film
00:45 set, these buildings are designed to create an illusion of a perfect street. But from
00:50 the road behind, a secret is in fact revealed. On this fairly posh road is the famous Blakemore
00:59 Hotel, but next to it, these boarded up buildings are just a shell, an exterior to keep up appearances
01:05 on the street. No one lives inside, it's not real, and if you're taking a gander around
01:12 the block through the quaint side streets and onto the road behind called Porches to
01:17 Terrace, behind a big wall, everything is cleared up. Now if you're tall enough to see
01:23 over the wall, which I'm not, but luckily I have a tripod, you'll find that the houses
01:28 are actually an exterior to tunnels, and that the London Underground passes underneath where
01:34 the houses should be. Although it looks like some sort of Harry Potter magic trick, this
01:50 is one of London's hidden gems, and makes 23-24 Lines to Gardens one of the quirkiest
01:56 houses in the whole of the UK, but especially in London. It's been revered as one of the
02:03 great Victorian designs in London, and was originally created around 1860 to make way
02:10 for a steam train operated service, but now many Londoners will have travelled underneath
02:16 the houses without even knowing. To this day, the buildings are maintained by TfL, and fans
02:24 of the hit TV show Sherlock might remember it in an episode titled 'The Last Vow'. Now,
02:32 it might not technically be a house, as no one has ever made it a home, but these facades
02:37 are both superficial and deep-rooted in London's history, making it one of the quirkiest buildings
02:44 in the capital. For more on London landmarks and other news from across the capital, head
02:50 to Londonworld.com.
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