David Bowie’s Childhood Home to Open to the Public
The announcement of the acquisition comes on what would have been the late star's 79th birthday.
1/8/2026
The announcement of the acquisition comes on what would have been the late star's 79th birthday.
Young David Jones at Plaistow Grove. Courtesy of David Bowie Estate
Before he became David Bowie, he was David Jones. He lived at a modest traditional British home in southeast London that had a living and dining room/kitchen downstairs, and two bedrooms upstairs with his family, and dreamed of becoming a musical great. That fabled house, 4 Plaistow Grove in Bromley, is now set to be a place of pilgrimage for Bowie fans when it is restored and reopened to the public in the coming years.
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The home, where Bowie lived between ages 8 and 20, has been acquired by the Heritage of London Trust in a landmark purchase. The house will be restored back to its original early 1960s appearance and is set to open to the public in late 2027.
Bowie was born in Brixton, south London, and moved to the property with his mother and father in 1955. He lived at the premises until 1967, around the time that he released his self-titled debut album on Decca Records, though he returned often in the following years. The announcement of the heritage project comes on what would have been Bowie’s 79th birthday (Jan. 8), and just days before the 10th anniversary of his Jan. 10, 2016, passing.
The acquisition follows the opening of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s permanent David Bowie Centre in Stratford, east London, in September 2025. Geoffrey Marsh, who co-curated the acclaimed David Bowie Is exhibition that toured the world, will assist in restoring 4 Plaistow Grove alongside a never-before-seen archive.
“It was in this small house, particularly in his tiny bedroom, that Bowie evolved from an ordinary suburban schoolboy to the beginnings of an extraordinary international stardom,” Marsh said in a statement. “As [Bowie] said, ‘I spent so much time in my bedroom. It really was my entire world. I had books up there, my music up there, my record player. Going from my world upstairs out onto the street, I had to pass through this no-man’s-land of the living room.’”
The exterior of 4 Plaistow Grove. Courtesy of David Bowie Estate
The site will also host creative and skills workshops for young people, with the trust saying that the house will act as a “solid foundation for the next generation” and will focus on teaching confidence and communication skills in the arts.
The Jones Day Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by attorneys and staff of the Jones Day law firm, will contribute £500,000 ($672,024) toward the restoration. A public fundraising campaign will be launched later in January for additional funds.
“David Bowie was a proud Londoner. Even though his career took him all over the world, he always remembered where he came from and the community that supported him as he grew up,” said Dr. Nicola Stacey, director of Heritage of London Trust. “It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to tell his story and inspire a new generation of young people and it’s really important for the heritage of London to preserve this site.”
Bowie is not the first British star to have their childhood home enshrined. Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s childhood homes in Liverpool are owned by the National Trust and open to visitors.
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