Tucked away on the idyllic Parliament Hill in Hampstead, North London, a house draped in ivy stands as a curious local landmark. Its brickwork is almost entirely hidden beneath a lush green and autumnal reddish canopy, giving it the air of a forgotten treasure from another time. Indeed it has been like this for a very long time - 25 years to be exact.
Owner Clare Kitchen, 58, explained that her mother has lived in the beautiful Victorian terraced home for 35 years and planted the vine, a Virginia Creeper, herself. READ MORE: 'Luxury’ apartment block with ‘repulsive’ black mould where residents fear getting cholera Despite two and a half decades of vine-clad local fame, Clare, who works as an NHS peer coach, revealed that this is sadly the last year their house will be covered by the vines as they plan to repaint the outside. It comes as the home went viral on Reddit , with people divided over the pros and cons of the foliage.
She said: "Although I like it, it's quite difficult to maintain. Not long ago, if you've seen the pictures, the windows were nearly covered." Two weeks ago, Clare's sister had to come and hack some of it away to allow the natural light to flood the house again.
Clare added: "It's the only one like it in the road and that's because my mum planted it all those years ago. But this year it seems like its a bumper crop, it's got really wild and we haven't done much work on it so it's got a bit overgrown. It goes red in the autumn, that's the time to rea.
