Don't be a Tourist in London

Snooping Around Other People's Houses

She’s Just a Cosmic House, from another Galaxy

A post-modern odyssey awaits on a sleepy boulevard in West London’s Holland park. The Cosmic House is an architectural masterpiece; a journey through time and space, conceived within the mind of the renowned visionary architect Charles Jencks who paved the way for other better-known architects like Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry. The Victoria villa was his family home, which he transformed into a perfect collision of comfort and cosmology at the beginning of the 1980s. It’s now a Grade I listed building (that’s the highest level of protection), a museum, as well as an architectural & cultural salon. Dripping with symbolism and art, literature and pop culture references that unlock as you move deeper through the home, this is postmodernism like you’ve never seen it. There’s a dome modelled off an Italian church that’s been flipped upside down and turned into a jacuzzi. There’s a sunken room facing the garden that moonlights as a giant sundial. The library is a literal village of bookcases, and as the museum’s guidebook puts it best, “the ceiling is disco mirrored in classical panels.” It’s humorous, it’s kitsch, it’s Dadaist and it’s definitely cosmic. “I might have gone too far in designing certain rooms” said Jencks before he died, however one can’t help but be entirely grateful for every last detail in this very personal piece of his legacy. Do everything you can to get tickets and unlock the cosmos.

(19 Lansdowne Walk, W11; Jencksfoundation.org/cosmic-house/visit)

A Victorian Painter’s Bohemian Palace

The neighbourhood known as Holland Park in Kensington is home to some of the most incredible Victorian and Gothic mansions in the city, and perhaps the most exquisite one of them all has been quietly open to visitors as a house museum since 1929. A feast for the eyes inside, marked only by its blue plaque outside, you would never know what treasures await behind that solemn red brick facade. Frederic Leighton was a well-travelled 19th century painter who moved in all the right circles and made sure that was reflected in his lavish abode at number 12 Holland Park Rd. Leighton House was his own bohemian palace of art, adorned with enviable wallpaper, the most precious china and exquisite carpets – and it’s all just as he left it. As soon as you enter, the sound of trickling water lures you to the home’s pièce de résistance; a spectacular Arabian hall of intricate mosaics and Islamic tiles surrounding a luxurious indoor fountain under a great golden dome. It’s entirely unexpected, but you may just recognise the room as a memorable filming location from the 1985 dystopian epic, Brazil. Upstairs in Leighton’s former art studio, you can find his used paint palettes on a cluttered wooden desk, beneath those giant windows where the light floods in just so. Here, Leighton once entertained Queen Victoria

Above: Cosmic House

Right: Leighton House

Below: Denis Severs' House

04 Lonely Hearts Club

Feeding a Broken Heart (Or a Hangover)

The Time-Travelling Fish & Chips Experience’

Before you go googling “the best fish & chips in London”, consider that a good fish & chips is probably the best it’s going to get. This is not fine gastronomy that requires any food critics to take the joy out of a good greasy fry up. From London cabbies to hungover club kids, it’s the people’s lunch of choice; an honest British staple best left ungentrified – much like The Fryer’s Delight, an old-school chippy diner down the road from the British Museum that’s been going strong since 1962. This cosy little timewarp belongs on the screen, where a Bridget Jones-type hero finds themselves post break-up, sitting alone in a booth, slumped over the formica-topped table, and Ozzie, the friendly owner comes over to refill an empty coffee cup with a sympathetic smile. All for around 10 quid, you can eat your feelings with a hearty meal of battered cod, thick cut chips doused in vinegar, mushy peas, pickled onions and a canned drink. The massive serving of nostalgia on the side is priceless of course. (19 Theobalds Rd, London WC1X; +442074054114; Mon-Sat 11:15am-9pm)

An All-Day Builder’s English Breakfast

Kozzy Café is the kind of place you wish you lived upstairs from. No matter what time you rise & shine, a hearty English breakfast awaits with all the

A Pub Away from Home

A Pint with the Pilgrim Fathers at the Old Post Office Pub

An event which looms large in American history can be traced to a tiny, old fashioned pub along the banks of the Thames. Tucked away down in Rotherhithe, once a bustling sea port dating back to Elizabethan times, is the Mayflower pub. Today it’s dwarfed by surrounding factories, renovated warehouses and new builds, but it was from the jetty just outside the pub, that the Pilgrim fathers sailed from London in 1620, bound for Southampton and onto the New World in the ship which bears the tavern’s name. The Mayflower claims to be the oldest pub on the River Thames, and has been around under different names – “The Shippe” and “The Spread Eagle and Crown” – since 1550, until an enterprising landlord three centuries later renamed the pub in honour of the Mayflower’s crew. The docks may no longer throng with masts and sail, but the surrounding old cobbled streets and candlelit interior of the Mayflower evoke a bygone era when Britain was still the world’s greatest seapower. An old sailor’s tradition still lives on in the Mayflower: it is the UK’s only licensed post office to be found inside a pub. Back in the 1800s, when sailors arrived in port with little time to find a post office, they could buy a stamp at the bar along with their beer, allowing them to swiftly write their farewells to loved ones without ever having to leave the pub. It’s still the only pub licensed to sell US & UK postage stamps, just ask at the bar and get to work on those postcards and letters home. A recent addition to the pub, is a guest book signed by visitors who can prove they are descended from the original travellers on the Mayflower, and is well worth a read. The actual Mayflower eventually returned to Rotherhithe where it was scrapped — pub legend has it that some of the ships’ illustrious timbers found their way back to bar and were used in a later renovation.

Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower also returned, and is buried across the street in St. Mary’s churchyard. Find a cozy nook in the pub next to the fireplace or a seat on the rear terrace overlooking the small jetty where perhaps Captain Jones once sat in the same spot, looking out at his ship over a quiet drink, anticipating the perilous journey to come.

(117 Rotherhithe Street, Rotherhithe, SE16; +44 207 237 4088; Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 12pm-10:30pm; mayflower pub.co.uk)

Beers at the Old Bowling Club

Very Victorian and Edwardian Balham has come a long way from its reputation some 30 years ago. Having spent a good part of the 20th century as a haven for crime, drugs and prostitution, it now has a Soho House, hip boutiques, farmers markets and fiercely sought after real estate. A little piece of Balham’s pregentrified spirit however, can be found just off busy Balham High Road at the Balham Bowls Club, a former abandoned bowling club house dating to 1893,

Dining & Drinking & Dancing with the Cool Kids

Social Clubs of Bygone Britain

Happily stuck in a time warp, a night at the Moth Club is a bit like finding yourself back at a 1970s school prom – in the best possible way. This East London venue is in fact a tarted up old working men’s club with most of its original paraphernalia still on the walls alongside a David Lynch disco hall aesthetic that attracts a hip Hackney crowd like moths to a flame. During the week you can catch an intimate gig with rising British bands and see them up close & personal or watch comfortably from the vintage velvet-covered booths. The weekend dance parties on Fridays and Saturdays alternate between cool 80s hits and the latest pop & R&B floor fillers. Reliably cheap drinks and good vibes, this gem sparkles brighter the gold glittering ceiling. (Valette St, London E9; +44 20 8985 7963; open everyday, Sun-Thurs from 7pm-12am and Fri & Sat until 3am; Mothclub.co.uk)

Working men's clubs began emerging during the 19th century, particularly in industrialised areas where there was a growing need for spaces where working-class men could socialise, unwind and find camaraderie, but declining membership in recent decades has seen many clubs struggle to remain open. A few of these local treasures however, have evolved with the help of an inclusive new generation.

Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

On a stage backed by gold tinsel fringe curtains and a giant pink light-up heart, the wonderfully camp DJ sets, drag performances, karaoke nights and sexy poetry jams have proved to be the unlikely lifeline the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club needed. Having moved into the traditionally working class areas of London, such as Shoreditch and Dalston, the queer community has played an important role in reviving many of East London’s neglected venues. Still very much reminiscent of its 1950s roots, and still hosting a working men’s club co-existing in the basement of the red brick Victorian building, the BGWMC is an encouraging example of how to successfully maintain working-class institutions while simultaneously embracing the growth and diversity of younger generations. Come for the promise of a kitsch time capsule, stay for the wildly creative entertainment.

(42-46 Pollard Row, London E2; +44 20 7739 7170; open Wed-Sun; check out the line-up at Workersplaytime.net)

Effra Social is an old Victorian social club for Brixton’s Conservative party members, rescued from neglect and gloriously stuck in time somewhere in the sixties. Adorned with its original vintage furniture, old Blighty memorabilia and plenty of pictures of a youthful Queen Liz, it’s said that Winston Churchill used to enjoy a tipple here, as did former PM John Major. Despite holding onto its history, the clientele is quite different today and politics are best left at the door. This Georgian townhouse is now an unpretentious weekend hang-out with a retro village hall feel, home to roast dinners, live music, indie discos, bingo and a notoriously tricky Tuesday night pub quiz. Bring your cleverest friends.

(89 Effra Rd, Brixton, SW2; 020 7737 6800; Mon-Wed 11am-11pm, Thurs 11am-12am, Fri-Sat 11am-1am & Sun 11am-11pm; Effrasocial.co.uk)