Women’s Pioneer Housing bought the property in West London, where there were plenty of large, empty houses. After the First World War, there were fewer women available to work as domestic servants (in part because they had moved to factory, retail, and clerical work), so wealthy families no longer required homes with servants’ quarters. This left unwanted housing stock that was ideal for WPH’s requirements – in-house architect Gertrude Leverkus planned conversions, changing large homes into self-contained flats.

This map shows the location of all WPH properties in the years up to the Second World War (1939). As you can see from the descriptions, some were lost during the Blitz. Properties no longer owned by WPH are shown in red.

WPH’s offices were located closer to Central London. From 1921 to 1932, the organisation rented space in a building owned by the Women’s Institute (92 Victoria Street); other prominent women’s groups, including the Six Point Group, also had offices here. In 1932, the office moved to 83 Buckingham Palace Road.