Residents on a beloved UK street are painting their homes black to deter crowds of influencers. Notting Hill in London is known for its brightly coloured houses and thousands of tourists arrive each year to take pictures outside.
Residents say they will find people leaving rubbish behind, climbing their railings and even trying to get into their houses. Others say influencers will come with outfit changes and props and spend hours taking photos on people’s doorsteps. One resident painted over their bubblegum pink and blue home with black, saying it “doesn’t look as good on Instagram”. Another has followed suit, painting the bottom half of their house black to put off people looking for a photo op. This has started a campaign to try and get others on the street to join them.
They said in a letter to neighbours: “It’s clear that the bright and contrasting house colours are a major draw for photographs for their social media accounts. While we all value the charm of our street, the unintended consequence has been a surge in disruptive tourism.”
Many of the homes have installed ropes and chains to prevent people from coming right to their front doors for pictures. A ‘quiet zone’ sign has also been put up.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told the Standard that it is “invasive over-tourism” that began during lockdown, despite previously not having had the problem.
They said: “It’s really invasive overtourism for no reason at all. Every 30 seconds, there is a new group. You can’t ask people to stop, you’d be out there all day asking people not to leave trash or to be quiet.”
They reminded those wanting to visit Notting Hill that it is a residential area that doesn’t have the facilities to cater for mass tourism. Rubbish left behind by tourists is often picked up by residents.
They added: “People just don’t understand that these are homes. It’s not a museum, it’s not an amusement park, it’s not a restaurant, these aren’t hotels.”
