Talgarth Road is a major thoroughfare that runs through Hammersmith and Fulham in the western part of London. 179 Talgarth Road is the house that Joe North bequeathed to both Owen Quine and Michael Fancourt.
In real life, there is no 179 Talgarth Road. HOWEVER, there IS a row of houses at 135 to 149 Talgarth Road that perfectly fit the description of Quine and Fancourt’s property:
“Though London was full of these kinds of architectural anomalies, [Strike] had never seen buildings that jarred so obviously with their surroundings. The old houses sat in a distinctive row, dark redbrick relics of a more confident and imaginative time, while traffic rumbled unforgivingly past them in both directions, for this was the main artery into London from the west.
“They were ornate late-Victorian artists’ studios, their lower windows leaded and latticed and oversized arched north-facing windows on their upper floors, like fragments of the vanished Crystal Palace.”
“[Strike] heaved himself up the white front steps. The front door was sheltered from the rain by a brick canopy richly ornamented with carved stone swags, scrolls and badges.”
For the TV series, Strike – The Silkworm, the real artist studio houses on Talgarth Road were used for filming. Tom Burke (who plays Cormoran Strike) said he enjoyed filming scenes inside here, as he’d always wanted to go inside them.
J.K. Rowling has confirmed that these houses did indeed inspire 179 Talgarth Road:
Apparently the houses comprise St Paul’s Studios, which were built in 1890 for “bachelor artists.” You can read more about these remarkable buildings and their interesting history, as well as see photos of their interiors, in the articles below.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/24/inside-st-pauls-studios-a-painters-workroom-home
Here are the houses’ layouts:
Want to go for a drive-by or walk-by yourself? Here’s the location on Google Maps: