Pimlico, Perfectly Preserved

Published

30 April, 2026

Edited

3 August, 2026

Eccleston Square V

By LIAM HESS

Photography by ANDREW BEASLEY

Illustrations by ROB WILSON

In the early 1910s, if you were wandering through Pimlico’s Eccleston Square, past the Regency-era stuccoed facades of its wedding cake townhouses, or under the towering plane trees and sycamores of its communal gardens, you might have spotted a familiar figure: Winston Churchill, recently appointed as Home Secretary, was raising his young family at number 33 on the square’s southern end.

Over a century later, you probably won’t spot Winston Churchill taking a stroll, but little else about this picture-postcard southwest London neighborhood has dramatically changed. The scent of climbing roses from the gardens still carries on the breeze every spring, drifting over to where the imposing white townhouses continue to stand proud. And it was the rare opportunity to acquire one of those houses, from top to toe, that led the current homeowners to snap up their elegant five-level home four years ago, following a lengthy search.

“So many of these houses have been carved into flats over the decades,” they tell us. “Finding one intact, on a garden square, facing directly onto the gardens, felt like a genuine discovery.” The unusual makeup of the gardens, which was planted with an array of rare and tropical plants in the 1980s by the local horticulturalist Roger Phillips, was the cherry on top: “It’s lush, almost jungly, designed in a spirit that deliberately resists the conventional English codes.”

Though of course, it was the house itself that won them over. Even if, the couple notes, they then went on to “strip back every floor, every surface, every color,” reimagining it in the spirit of their own eclectic tastes while still honoring its bones. “We wanted to bring a Victorian house back to life, but through a modern lens,”. It’s a philosophy that’s especially visible in the high-ceilinged ground-floor kitchen, with its ornate crown moldings and large sash windows that flood the space with natural light.

The couple used that classic framework as a starting point to introduce their own, more characterful features: notably the striking Prussian blue cabinetry, which surrounds a cozy green Aga and a Belfast sink, and the richly colored herringbone tiled floors, which were inspired by the Scottish ceramicists Dunmore Pottery, famously beloved by Queen Victoria and whose pieces sit in the Victoria and Albert Museum just a 30-minute walk away. Despite the palpable echoes of British design history within the space, and its timeworn patina, it’s all just a few years old. “Almost nothing was kept,” the homeowners says. “The kitchen is entirely ours.”

That sense of playfulness—as well as a deliberate, artful clashing of time periods—extends across every floor, from the low-slung sage green modular sofa paired with Louis XV–style armchairs in the second-level sitting room to the birdcage-style pendant light filled with (faux) miniature tropical birds paired with French antique furniture in the second bedroom. But it’s arguably most visible in the throughline of their art collection, which—once again—spans the centuries. “There are old master paintings from the 1600s sitting alongside modern photography with a neoclassical sensibility,” the homeowner says. “The photography gives a contemporary pulse to what could otherwise feel like a history lesson.”

As for why this approach felt right for a house in Pimlico—and the appeal of the neighborhood more generally? “It manages to feel genuinely residential while being extraordinarily central. You can walk to Mayfair, through Hyde Park, or St James’s Park, and to Chelsea and Kensington—all in minutes. It doesn’t have the self-consciousness of some of those neighborhoods; it’s quieter, more lived-in,” says the homeowner. “And the square, of course, is its own world entirely.”

PIMLICO'S NEIGHBORHOOD HIGHLIGHTS

MOLLY ALEXANDER | The legendary Pimlico Road is home to some of the city’s most storied design shops—but make sure to pay a visit to Molly Alexander, a buzzy new antiques store overseen by its thirtysomething namesake. It’s already a favorite of interior design titans like Jasper Conran.

A. WONG | Chef Andrew Wong’s flagship restaurant is often referred to as the best Chinese restaurant in the U.K.—and for good reason. It’s the first Michelin two-star Chinese restaurant outside of Asia, offering inventive riffs on Cantonese classics using British produce, and the lunchtime menu is one of the greatest deals in town.

JW ANDERSON | The Northern Irish fashion trailblazer Jonathan Anderson recently decided to pivot his namesake label to a lifestyle brand, or in his words, a “modern-day cabinet of curiosities”. And this new Pimlico Road flagship is the best place to immerse yourself in his eclectic tastes, selling everything from silk dresses to salad bowls.

DAYLESFORD ORGANIC | If you’re seeking a slice of the Cotswolds countryside in the heart of the city, make a beeline for Daylesford Organic. A wonderland of organic and sustainably sourced produce, either pick up some Gloucestershire greens for dinner at home or order a seasonal salad (and the obligatory green juice) at the café.

RIPPON CHEESES | Rippon’s is widely considered one of the finest cheesemongers in London—not just for its fiercely independent spirit, but also for its nostalgic charm. Stop in for samples among the industrial shelves that heave with wheels of cheese from up and down the British Isles (and beyond).

THE ORANGE | Situated in an elegant stuccoed corner building that was formerly a brewery, this pub’s large windows flood the interior with natural light, making it a favorite for weekend brunches. They do a mean Sunday roast, too.

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