David Bowie's childhood home to be restored and made open to the public

9 January 2026, 12:19 | Updated: 9 January 2026, 12:44

The terraced two-up-two-down in Bromley, South London will be used for workshops for young people.

David Bowie's childhood home is set to be restored and made available to the public.

The Heritage of London Trust announced the news of yesterday (8th January), on what would have been the late icon's 79th birthday.

The news also comes as 10th anniversary of the Ziggy Stardust's legends passing, aged 69, on 10th January 2016 approaches.

"Heritage of London Trust has (...) announced the landmark acquisition of the family home of David Robert Jones," they explained in a press release. "The modest south London terrace where the boy became David Bowie."

Bowie’s House – Heritage of London Trust

They added: "Located at 4 Plaistow Grove in Bromley, the property served as Bowie’s creative sanctuary from ages 8 to 20 (1955–1967). The property marks the site where Bowie’s musical journey began; it was here that he wrote his formative songs and regularly returned in the following years, as he wrote his breakthrough smash hit Space Oddity, which rocketed him to pop fame."

The heritage project, which is due to be completed in 2027 plans to lovingly restore the "two up, two down" railway workers' cottage to its original 1960s appearance in a collaboration alongside Geoffrey Marsh, who was the co-curator of the Victoria and Albert museum’s David Bowie Is exhibition.

Read more:

• What did David Bowie play at his last gig?
• 10 bands that may not have existed without David Bowie
• David Bowie's Blackstar album 10 years on: Why the late icon's final album was so special

The press release adds that the project "transcends simple bricks and mortar" and seeks to continue Bowie's legacy of "free creative experimentation".

Inspired by Bowie's 1969 Beckenham Arts Lab, which offered opportunities "for everybody," the site will host creative and skills workshops for young people through the Trust's Proud Places and Proud Prospects programmes.

The work has received major funding donation in the form of a grant of £500 from the Jones Day foundation (a charitable foundation funded by attorneys and staff of the Jones Day law firm), but fans can also contribute to the project by making a donation at bowieshouse.org.

As explained on the official website, a donation towards the project would enable restoration work, the curation of the house and development of programmes at the building.

Patrons are also invited to get in touch if they would like to "make a special donation in memory of a relative or friend who loved David's music".

Geoffrey Marsh said: “It was in this small house, particularly in his tiny bedroom, that Bowie evolved from an ordinary suburban schoolboy to the beginnings of an extraordinary international stardom – as he said ‘I spent so much time in my bedroom. It really was my entire world. I had books up there, my music up there, my record player. Going from my world upstairs out onto the street, I had to pass through this no-man's-land of the living room.’”

Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “David Bowie was a proud Londoner. Even though his career took him all over the world, he always remembered where he came from and the community that supported him as he grew up. It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to tell his story and inspire a new generation of young people and it’s really important for the heritage of London to preserve this site. We are thrilled to have already secured a major grant of £500,000 from the Jones Day Foundation towards the project, and hope that people everywhere will want to be involved.”

Read more:

• David Bowie in his own words
• Was David Bowie's "Heroes" really based on a true story?
• How David Bowie's Young Americans album was influenced by Luther Vandross