As part of the programme of events complementing our current exhibition, Architects’ Houses, join tour guide Olga Zilbershtein for a stroll around Hampstead to visit two of the buildings featured, Hopkins House and 2 Willow Road, alongside other examples of homes both designed and lived in by architects.

Sir John Soane’s house at 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields is perhaps the earliest example in England of a house designed by a professional architect for personal use, with the dual function of a shared family space and a showcase for architectural ideas. In this walking tour, you will visit different examples of this phenomenon, including the iconic Isokon Building by Wells Coates (1934), Charlotte and MJH Bunney’s modernist home on Downshire Hill (1936) and the post-war gem Housden House (Brian Housden, 1963-65).

This tour is now sold out.

About the tour

  • The tour will start from Hampstead Heath Station (London Overground). Ticket buyers will be informed of the exact meeting point and the tour will commence from that location.
  • The tour will last approximately one and a half hours.
  • The tour will end near Belsize Park Underground Station (Northern Line, Edgeware branch).
  • The tour will go ahead unless there are extreme weather conditions which prevent travel to/from Hampstead.
  •  The route will include crossing over Hampstead Heath - please wear appropriate shoes as it may be muddy.
  • If you have any access requirements and would like to discuss the route in more detail, please contact us in advance of your booking on admin@soane.org.uk or 020 7405 2107.

About the tour leader

Olga Zilbershtein is a tour guide and a member of Front of the House Team at Sir John Soane’s Museum. She is a graduate of the 2022 Golden Key Academy — a masterclass for urban and architectural tour guiding run by Open City. Olga has a strong interest in how innovative and trailblazing ideas are born in architecture of different styles and periods and fascinated to see them manifested in the houses the architects design for themselves. Hampstead has been her home ground for the last seven years and she nurtures her architectural interests exploring the streets of her neighbourhood.