Last week, Amelia Shean heard a knock on her door, but when her boyfriend tried to open it, they realized that neither of them heard the knock.
“We have an antique door knocker,” she explains. “It’s very heavy and people would use it as part of their shots. They would hold it to stage a photo and drop it so it sounded like someone was knocking.”
It is not the first time that something like this has happened. “We also had a man walk past the window again and again until he knocked on the door and asked if he could come and look around inside,” she says.
Her 37-year-old boyfriend had recently seen a TikTok dance routine on the street, but did not want to investigate further.
If you hate having to run downstairs to pick up your neighbor’s packages, imagine how annoying it is when strangers not only knock on your door but also organize photo shoots and dance performances in front of your house.
This is what happens when you move to one of London’s most picturesque streets.
Amelia Shean, 31, founder of Shean Communications, lives in one of London’s most picturesque streets
What she didn’t realize was that she would have to share her home with hordes of Instagrammers and TikTokers who wanted to use it as a pretty backdrop
When the opportunity to rent an apartment in Hillgate Village in west London arose, 31-year-old Amelia, founder of Shean Communications, jumped at the chance, as two-bedroom houses here sell for an average of £1.5 million.
After all, who wouldn’t want their first home with their boyfriend to be a pastel-colored terraced house that looks like it’s straight out of a Richard Curtis romantic comedy?
What she didn’t realize was that she would have to share her home with hordes of Instagrammers and TikTokers who wanted to use it as a pretty backdrop.
“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t see someone taking photos or a group posing together. It happens every day.”
This fate is shared by a handful of other homeowners in London who live in similarly rainbow-coloured streets like Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill or Bywater Street in Chelsea, or in pretty terraced houses like the one in the “You’re Perfect for Me” scene in Love Actually.
“I think it must be listed on some website of the most beautiful houses in London because it’s strange how many people turn up there,” says Amelia.
“It’s not uncommon for me to look out the window on weekends and see several shootings. The largest group I’ve seen is about eight people.
“I used to live just off Portobello Road, which is another street with lots of beautiful, colourful houses. They have ropes in front of their houses to stop people going up and down the stairs and taking photos… but before we moved in, I had no idea that people came here to take photos.”
She says it’s “crazy” how early tourists start taking photos on the street.
The first few come when she is still sleepy-eyed as she goes to work. “It’s like Shaun of the Dead,” she laughs.
“All the people are standing in groups and are dazed and confused. They always do that rocking back and forth on one leg – like they’re going somewhere – that everyone does on Instagram. Then they quickly go back and look at their phones to see if they like the pictures or not.”
“The other day I saw people walking back and forth like that for twenty minutes.”
In Notting Hill, influencers set up tents in front of popular houses for outfit changes
She says that only in the dark is there no one there to take photos. “At first it was a compliment, but now it’s a bit annoying because they get in the way on the way to work.”
“Sometimes I have to wait a few minutes in the house until they are finished so I can avoid being there when they record.”
When you live in such a pretty house, you feel proud of your house, especially when people take so many photos of the front. “I wanted flowers in the window boxes outside,” says Amelia.
“But people kept sitting on them and accidentally breaking them while taking photos, so now I’m going to get some nice imitations.”
When she moved in, her mother bought her a Christmas wreath for the front door. “It had a really big, beautiful bow on it,” she remembers. “Within three days, the huge satin centerpiece was gone. Why not just take the whole wreath?”
Packages have never been lost, but the delivery drivers often have to avoid the photographers who sometimes stand on the street.
While Amelia maintains her sense of humor about her Instafamous home, not all of the residents are so relaxed.
In Notting Hill, where influencers set up tents outside popular homes for outfit changes, one local resident began leaving stains on the ground outside her front door to deter visitors, while others considered repainting their homes a plain color – and even moved away to avoid the crowds.
Amelia has no plans to move, nor has she bought a rope to cordon off her VIP residence. But she has bought a pair of sunglasses and keeps her head down when entering and leaving the house so no one asks her to take photos.
Like a celebrity? I say. “Yes, but of course I’m not one,” she laughs. But her house is one.
