With its idyllic Regency-style terrace houses, Chalcot Crescent has long caught the eye of the many visitors that descend on Primrose Hill.
But the north London street is now attracting another type of visitor: the film tourist.
It featured in Paddington – the film franchise used a house there as the home of the fictional Brown family.
”I’ve seen people taking selfies right in front of someone’s living room window, and you’re thinking, you know, if that was me, I’d be a bit annoyed to have my living room put straight on Instagram,” Matt Cooper, a Labour councillor for Primrose Hill, tells the of the many tourists who visit the area.
A spat has now flared between local residents and Airbnb, which is running a competition for three families to stay in a house on Chalcot Crescent to mark the release of Paddington in Peru in November.
The holiday booking site has told them it’s spending two weeks renovating the property to resemble the film set for three days of stays – painting the facade blue, blocking five parking spaces and also bringing noise disruption during the week.
Some residents have protested in a letter to Airbnb, claiming that the competition will feed into issues the street already faces with over-tourism.
The row appears to be “the straw breaking the camel’s back,” says Mr Cooper.
In response, Airbnb tells the it has not disclosed the location of the house and is making a “sizeable donation” to the Primrose Hill Community Association.
It’s not the only film set tourism row of recent years – and the others might tell us a thing or two about how to resolve them.
