Heritage Trust Acquires Bowie Childhood Home for Restoration

The Heritage of London Trust announced on Thursday that it has acquired David Bowie's childhood home in Bromley, south of London, and plans to restore the modest terraced cottage for public access by late 2027. The two-up, two-down property at 4 Plaistow Grove, where the musician lived from ages 8 to 20 between 1955 and 1967, will be returned to its early 1960s appearance, offering visitors an immersive glimpse into the early years of Bowie's creative development.

Born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, in 1947, the artist moved to the Bromley home with his parents as a child. His father worked at the charity Dr. Barnardo's, while his mother was a waitress. It was in this unassuming railway worker's cottage that Jones, who adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to distinguish himself from the Monkees' Davy Jones, began honing his musical talents. The restoration, guided by archival research and co-curator Geoffrey Marsh of the Victoria and Albert Museum's acclaimed David Bowie Is exhibition, will recreate the interior layout precisely as it was during Bowie's formative years. The project will focus particularly on his 9-foot-by-10-foot bedroom upstairs, a space Bowie...