But, as in the notorious Los Angeles and New York, two others understandably densely populated by stars of our and previous generations, London has certain neighbourhoods in which rich celebrities especially often like to reside. London is big, and if you take into account the territory of Greater London, which is a kind of suburb, which in recent years has become a full-fledged part of the capital, so almost limitless. However, all the same, in this huge space there are several separate areas, in which the most often choose their housing stars.
The most famous such neighbourhood is Kensington and Chelsea. This area, which is one of the only royal boroughs in the UK, has been and still is home to such a huge number of different stars that it is comparable only to the number of stars in the sky. Now, the Holland Park area is home to world-famous British singers Elton John, Robbie Williams and Ed Sheeran. The latter has even managed to open his own restaurant near his home on Portobello Street.
Their star neighbours are the Beckham couple, living in one of Notting Hill’s beautiful white villas. The couple can often be seen strolling around the neighbourhood or at the area’s many restaurants. David Beckham himself even has his own pub in Kensington — the not-so-famous The Elephant and Castle on the all-too-familiar Portobello. The most interesting thing is that directly opposite the villa Beckhams bought a house the owner of the network “Virgin” British millionaire Richard Branson. One house on this street on average costs from 20 million pounds sterling, but it is fair to assume that since the appearance of such big names on it, their price may have increased significantly.
On the other side of Holland Park, closer to Kensington High Street, Jimmy Page, founder and permanent guitarist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin, lives in an eye-catching red neo-Gothic building with a small tower. According to the latest gossip, Page is now involved in a small neighbourhood “war” over potential construction work to expand his neighbour Robin Williams’ home. Prior to Page, the tower house was home at various times to poet John Betjeman, Lady Jan Turnball, daughter of the Earl of Stamford, and actor Richard Harris.
At the same time in different parts of the area have managed to live, and some even continue to have real estate there, designers Stella McCartney and Paul Smith, the creator and performer of the role of Mr. Bean Rowan Atkinson, American singer Madonna and iconic British singers Freddie Mercury and Annie Lennox.
A very similar star-studded environment has been created in north London’s borough Camden area. There, the more central neighbourhood of St. John’s Wood has been a hot spot for young stars of British pop music and beyond for decades. St. John’s Wood is home to the famous Abby Road Studios recording studio, which is across the street from where the legendary photo of the Beatles crossing the crosswalk was taken. Not surprisingly, one of the Beatles, Paul McCartney, has continued to live in the posh house nearby for decades.
Its star neighbours include 90’s model sex symbol Kate Moss, the latest James Bond performer Daniel Craig and many singers and singers who have had the pleasure of working at Abby Road Studios on their albums, whose track record includes Lily Allen, Keith Richards, Harry Styles and Suki Waterhouse.
Further north, the neighbourhood of Primrose Hill is home to former husband and wife, iconic director and actress, Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter. Before their divorce, the couple managed to buy two houses near Primrose Hill Park, which were connected by a small annex so that they could always meet easily, even if they were in different houses. It is not known what became of this passage between the houses after their divorce, but both Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter continue to live there. The latter is even regularly seen walking her dog in the park, which means that she is not going to move out of there yet.
North London is an expensive and magnificent place, so in the neighbouring with Camden Borough Hempstead also lives a lot of stars who can afford to buy a property there. The poets Byron and John Keats and actress Elizabeth Taylor used to live in Hempstead, but now Stephen Fry, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, chef Jamie Oliver, actors Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch can often be seen there.
Of course, one can never forget about the inhabitants of Central London! The Belgravia neighbourhood, located between Sloane Square and Buckingham Palace, has been home to a whole list of different stars over the years, who obviously prefer the noise, luxury and intimacy of Central London to the quiet suburbia of the North. It is where one of the homes of one of the world’s most famous Russian billionaires, Roman Abramovich, is located and where Winston Churchill, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, once lived.
In addition to them, the first James Bond and his creator — the inimitable Sean Connery and Ian Fleming, the author of the world’s first science fiction book Mary Shelley, who wrote the novel “Frankenstein” at the young age of 17, and the legendary soccer coach Jose Mourinho also lived there. It may come as a surprise to some, but their historical neighbour is Mozart himself. In more recent times, Margaret Thatcher lived there until her death, which was no accident —throughout modern British history Belgravia has been home to many important political figures, including Neville Chamberlain and Herbert Kitchener.
