David Bowie’s childhood home south of London will be restored and opened to the public late in 2027, Heritage of London Trust announced on Thursday.
The property, located at 4 Plaistow Grove in Bromley, Kent, was the young David Jones’ artist’s home from ages 8 to 20 (1955–1967), which includes the early years of his musical career. After releasing several singles under his born name, the singer began performing as David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusing with Monkees singer Davy Jones.
The heritage project, due for completion in late 2027, will restore the “two up, two down” railway workers’ cottage to its original early 1960s appearance, according to the announcement. In collaboration with curator Geoffrey Marsh (co-curator of the Victoria and Albert museum’s popular “David Bowie Is” exhibition) and utilizing archival research, “the restoration will recreate the interior layout exactly as it was when Bowie’s father commuted to work at charity Dr. Barnado’s and his mother worked as a waitress,” the announcement states, adding “This experience will center on Bowie’s 9 ft x 10 ft bedroom.”
The announcement was made on January 8, 2026, which would have been Bowie’s 79th birthday. He died in 2016 after a battle with cancer.
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Inspired by Bowie’s collaborative Beckenham Arts Lab in 1969, which offered opportunities “for everybody,” the site will host creative and skills workshops for young people. Through the Trust’s Proud Places and Proud Prospects programs, the house will act as a “solid foundation for the next generation,” teaching confidence and communication skills in the arts, the announcement states. A major £500,000 grant from the Jones Day Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by attorneys and staff of the Jones Day law firm, has been secured to anchor the restoration, with a public fundraising campaign launching this month.
The house is near the Edwardian “Bowie bandstand,” where the young musician performed in 1969, which was restored by Bromley Council and Heritage of London Trust in 2024.
Unfortunately, Haddon Hall, the sprawling Victorian mansion in nearby Beckenham that Bowie rented from 1969-73 and wrote some of his most legendary work, was demolished in the 1980s.
Marsh says, “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 – as he 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.’”
Dr. Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “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. 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. We are thrilled to have already secured a major grant of £500,000 from the Jones Day Foundation towards the project, and hope that people everywhere will want to be involved.”
George Underwood, artist, musician and David Bowie’s lifelong friend (and the person responsible for Bowie’s famous dilated pupil, the result of a fistfight over a girl), said: “We spent so much time together, listening to and playing music. I’ve heard a lot of people say David’s music saved them or changed their life. It’s amazing that he could do that and even more amazing that it all started here, from such small beginnings, in this house. We were dreamers, and look what he became.”
From Variety US