Residents of a picturesque street in Primrose Hill have hit out at their street being “pimped out” for Paddington Bear-themed Airbnbs.
Chalcot Crescent, with its attractive row of Grade-II listed townhouses, has been used as the exterior of 32 Windsor Gardens, the fictional home of the bear and his adoptive family the Browns.
In a new competition, Airbnb has offered three families to stay in one of the homes on the terrace to mark the third film in the franchise, Paddington in Peru.
As part of the prize, Airbnb will spend two weeks renovating a home on the highly sought after street to resemble the film set, including painting the exterior of the building blue.Residents have been advised that five parking spaces around the house will be blocked and there will be noise disruption during the week.
However, a group of locals, including business guru Mary Portas, have written to Airbnb complaining that they are “tired” of having their street “pimped” by companies for profit.One resident told The Times: “It's a commercialised invasion of the street's beauty and antiquity and our own personal misfortune.
“It's been a slow and permanent influx of people from all over the world; this has become a famous street and Paddington will now make it overwhelmed by tourists, and that is a tragedy to us."
She told the publication she been distracted from work due to regular filming on the movie, with drones flying past her windows.
Another added: “We feel that since the Paddington films, we've been inundated with TikTokers. People just point their cameras through my front window. It's like living in a zoo, it's like being a zoo animal."
But other local residents have been more positive, with one family saying: "It has always been an attraction in the crescent and every single weekend there will be people posing.
“But it's one of the reasons we sacrificed space for the location and how lovely the neighbourhood is."
An Airbnb spokesperson said it had not revealed the location of the Paddington house in a bid to stop more crowds coming to the area and that it had made a £20,000 donation to the local community association.
“As part of our campaigns, we are committed to giving back to the local area. In this instance, we are making a sizeable donation to the Primrose Hill Community Association,” the spokesperson said.
“This donation will support local projects such as the Open House Project, which is aimed at elderly people, a flagship food programme that provides for people in need, and the upkeep of the Primrose Hill community library."
The spokesperson added the ‘Paddington’ house visits were temporary and that the space will be fully restored in a matter of weeks.
