London's annual Open House Festival is returning for its 33rd year, offering architecture enthusiasts and curious homeowners an unprecedented opportunity to explore some of the city's most remarkable private residences. Running from September 13-21, this year's festival will showcase over 800 free open days across London, featuring homes, offices, and landmark architectural projects that are typically off-limits to the public.
For those who spend their free time browsing property websites and admiring beautiful homes well beyond their budgets, the Open House Festival presents an almost too-good-to-be-true experience. Visitors can step inside real people's homes without an invitation, exploring spaces that range from award-winning architectural marvels to innovative self-build projects.
Among the standout properties is Six Columns in Crystal Palace, which was crowned last year's RIBA House of the Year. Designed by its architect owner, one of the founders of 31/44 Architects, this four-bedroom house was built on patches of gardens acquired from neighbors. The home is named after the six columns that form its structure and is specifically designed to maximize shared spaces. "We liked this idea that you can see everything that a building is made of, and how that might inform our future use of that material, or adjustment of that building," explained owner Will Burges. The house embraces a brutalist aesthetic in the early sense of the word, where visitors can "really feel the woodiness of the wood." Open on September 20 with drop-in visits and guided tours available.
Another architectural gem is the Tin House in Shepherds Bush, built on a disused plot and hidden behind surrounding properties. This extraordinary tin structure doesn't resemble a typical house at first glance, comprising single-story pavilions arranged in a horseshoe around a central courtyard. Each pavilion contains a single room, with functional spaces like toilets, cupboards, and stairs cleverly hidden between the connecting links. Owner and architect Henning Stummel, who has lived there with his family for the past decade, describes it as "a haven of tranquility and real joy to live in" that "really illustrates the power of thoughtful design." The property opens on September 13 with drop-in visits and guided tours.
Pine Heath in Hampstead represents a successful modernist renovation project. Originally one of 12 modernist homes designed in the late 1960s by Ted Levy, Benjamin and Partners, the house received a comprehensive makeover in 2023 by Studio Hagen Hall. The renovation included new interiors and bespoke joinery, a reconfigured layout, and dramatically improved energy efficiency. Visitors can expect warm, sumptuous mid-century décor, much of it still original, including lovely pine cladding on the staircase and a sunken seating area overlooking trees. The architects note that "Open House is a wonderful opportunity to open the doors of Pine Heath to members of the public" and "enables us to illustrate how a sensitive energy-focused refurbishment can preserve and enhance London's modernist, post-war housing stock." Available September 13 with 45-minute guided tours requiring advance booking.
The Triangle House in West Hampstead showcases innovative design within extreme constraints. Built on the small, triangular site of a former MOT garage with a budget under £100,000, architects Brown Urbanism faced the additional challenge of rejected planning requests to increase the building's height. Measuring just 430 square feet, the single-story house is arranged as two multi-use spaces with an internal courtyard garden. Rather than building upwards, the design maximizes efficiency through clever solutions like a sliding bed and a desk revealed when bi-fold doors are moved aside. Architect Richard Brown explains that "our home is very ambiguous and it's not obvious what it is from the outside, so I think we have a lot of curious locals who are keen to see what lies behind the outer brick crust." Open September 13-14 with drop-in visits.
Sun Rain Rooms in Clerkenwell, home to architecture practice Tonkin Liu, proves that exteriors can be deceiving. Behind the smart, stucco-fronted Georgian façade lies an extraordinary extension with glass walls, curved design, and a green roof. The space centers around a patio that transforms into a reflecting pool at the touch of a button, filled with collected rainwater. Even the ceiling, featuring round, coffered skylights, mimics the pattern of raindrops landing in the pool. A mirrored wall in the covered outdoor area conceals multiple functions including a workshop, cooking area, potting shed, storage, and deep planter. Available September 19 with one-hour guided tours requiring booking.
Glenkerry House in Poplar offers a rare glimpse inside a brutalist icon designed by Ernő Goldfinger, part of a trio including the famous Balfron Tower. Unlike its siblings, Glenkerry House operates as a self-run housing cooperative where residents manage the 14-story vertical village themselves. While property prices have skyrocketed in other brutalist developments, flats in Glenkerry House are bought and sold through the cooperative at discounted prices, with interested buyers joining a waiting list. Open September 20 with 30-minute guided tours led by residents, booking required.
The Twin House in Stoke Newington stands out dramatically from its Victorian terraced neighbors with its rust-colored cement board cladding and double-gabled structure. Built on a tight garage plot with an excavated basement and two stories above, the home features an upside-down layout with kitchen, living, and working spaces on the first floor to maximize light, while bedrooms occupy the basement and ground floor. Kevin McCloud praised the design on Grand Designs earlier this year, calling it "proper grown-up architecture on a pint-sized plot." Open September 20 with drop-in visits.
The Green House in Seven Sisters represents another RIBA House of the Year winner, offering a contemporary reimagining of a domestic greenhouse. The façade is planted with bamboo and covered with sliding polycarbonate roofing sheets, referencing the greenhouses that once stood on the site. Hayhurst and Co.'s design centers around a riad-style atrium connecting all living spaces and helping keep the house cool through ventilation. With solar panels and a heat pump, RIBA's 2023 judges deemed it "an extremely well-considered home that is not only ultra-practical and architecturally exciting, but also highly innovative from a sustainability perspective." Available September 13 with 20-minute guided tours requiring booking.
At 7 Meadow Lane in Grove Park, visitors can explore a remarkable self-build achievement by Charmaine McNally, who had never picked up a hammer before deciding to build her own home. She accomplished this feat through a 14-home, female-led self-build scheme led by Tim Oshodi. Chinbrook Meadows represents the third self-build scheme coordinated by the pioneering cooperative Fusions Jameen, formed in the mid-90s as a group of African and Caribbean Londoners working with housing associations to train members to build their own homes. Since then, 36 houses including McNally's have been created. Both McNally's six-bedroom house and garden and Oshodi's home at 13 Nubia Way in Bromley are open, with McNally sharing her self-building experience. Open September 21 with drop-in visits.
Finally, Orleston Mews in Highbury offers insight into the personal residence of Peter St John, founder of architecture practice Caruso St John, known for work on Tate Britain, the Barbican Concert Hall, and Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery. St John designed the home in 1987 and remodeled it in 2000, incorporating salvaged materials including reclaimed bricks, floorboards, and parts from two old dairy vans due to budget constraints. The façade retains an eclectic character, part brick and part metal, with light, airy interiors overlooking the garden. Available September 21 with hour-long guided tours requiring advance booking.
