Residents of a neighborhood where Love Actually was shot are incensed, complaining that visitors who are clamoring to take photos at their front doors are making their lives miserable.
Every week, hundreds of fans of the 2003 romantic comedy descend to St Luke’s Mews in Notting Hill, London, from all over the world to take pictures in front of the pink home made famous by the film.
The house was the setting for one of the movie’s most famous sequences, in which Andrew Lincoln declares his love for Juliet, played by Keira Knightley, by holding up a series of placards that read, “To me, you are perfect.”
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) issued a warning to visitors precisely three years ago, urging them to avoid the charming street, but the owner of the terraced house is sick and tired of them still going there.
The lady, who wished to remain unnamed, said: “The estate agent didn’t tell me it was in Love Actually when I purchased the home.
“I purchased the property in 2002, long before cellphones or Instagram were even a thing.
The tour guides and other individuals profiting from the location are my biggest concern.
“I invite visitors to drop some money in the collecting bucket for charity that I keep at my door.”
One traveler who visited the region last week said she went there particularly to take pictures of the residence.
“I wanted to travel to Notting Hill and walk down this street to visit the home in the moment from Love Actually when they hold up all the posters,” said Lauren Robertson, a resident of Austin, Texas.
We came here to check it out since we adore that movie, and it’s wonderful to see it in person.
The local council asked the public to avoid the pink property in January 2020 in a news statement, claiming that the owner was becoming more irritated with the unwelcome attention.
With St Luke’s Mews as a location, there are over 3,000 Instagram posts, and there are probably thousands more.
They include Instagram users and bloggers standing in front of the property, and the building even has a location pin on the social media platform.
A council representative at the time said that the organization was “coming in to assist safeguard the resident’s privacy and encourage tourists to check out other iconic spots in the borough.”
According to some, moviegoers would be better off visiting Kensington Gardens, the setting for the infamous fight scene between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in the second Bridget Jones’s Diary movie, or Portobello Road, the location of the world-famous market and used in the 2014 and 2017 Paddington films.
Others have chosen to have their wedding photographs taken outdoors, and some of the unwelcome guests at the Notting Hill residence are even participating in organized excursions.
When the property was purchased prior to the Instagram frenzy, the owner said in 2020: “I had no clue this house was in the movie, and now I am living under a blanket of selfies, tour guides, and a line of visitors waiting up to snap photographs on weekends.
If the door is open, they will even enter my home believing it to be a theme park.
She said that she had now erected a donation box outside and would donate the proceeds to nearby homeless groups.
In an effort to turn this uncomfortable situation into something positive, she said, “I am urging people to accept the reality that not everyone has a roof over their heads and give to homeless charity, either personally or via the little pink box outside.”
“I have assisted numerous individuals in finding shelters, and all donations go to deserving local charities.”
“Those who bring tours to the mews for profit, often in a blacked-out van, should consider carefully,” the sign reads.
“We want to assist preserve our citizens’ privacy,” an RBKC official stated.
“So many well-known film and television sequences have been filmed in our borough. There’s a lot to see, so we’re urging tourists to visit Portobello Road or one of our lovely parks in its place and give the owners of the “Love Actually home” a rest.
»‘Love Actually’ fans turn movie neighbourhood to photoshoot base«