This society was started three years ago as a sort of mother in housing to professional and other independent women and has now nearly 100 flats to its credit. These flats are let out at moderate rents to women who can have what number of rooms they choose, what wall-paper they choose - what food they choose and even what guests they choose!

Etheldred Browning, Letter to Time and Tide, 16 May 1924

In November 1921, Women’s Pioneer Housing’s first ever residents moved in to 67 Holland Park Avenue. In its early years, WPH catered to professional, middle-class working women who wanted to live independently. At this time, unmarried women struggled to find suitable accommodation, because landlords often refused to let to them and boarding houses didn’t offer privacy or the right to have guests, decorate, or stay out late at night.

Many of the early residents bought shares in the organisation, but some were sponsored by wealthy donors who answered Etheldred Browning’s call to ‘do good’ and ‘get a good return’ on their money in the process.

The women who lived in WPH properties during the 1920s and 1930s were an eclectic mix. Many were pioneers in their fields – among the first groups of women to receive degrees and begin professional careers in science, education, architecture, medicine, and the arts. As WPH became more successful, it purchased three purpose-built blocks of flats in 1935, which could be let out at cheaper, weekly rates. This meant that women in lower-paid work – such as retail, laundry, and waitressing – could get a home of their own thanks to WPH.

Find out more about some of our residents and their lives in the biographies below:
http://www.womenspioneer.co.uk/meet-the-residents/friendship-love-and-family/
http://www.womenspioneer.co.uk/meet-the-residents/working-women/
http://www.womenspioneer.co.uk/meet-the-residents/65-harrington-gardens/

Further information is available in the resources section of the website.