Is this London's ugliest home? House surrounded by rusting steel and razor wire is frozen in time - exactly how late owner left it

This London home surrounded by rusting steel and razor wire is frozen in time – exactly how the late owner left it – and could possibly be the city's 'ugliest' house. 

Drivers slow down and pedestrians stand and stare as they pass the abandoned property on Charlemont Road, in East Ham.

The eye-sore, which used to be a corner shop, is loathed by locals and has been compared to Alcatraz prison. 

A wall of rusting steel seals off the yard and razor wire runs along the wall while the old shop front is nothing but a brutal slab of bricks. 

But behind the grim façade, time has stood still for years – frozen like a museum, its every dusty surface exactly how its late owner left it.

Boxes, cartons and food leftovers offer glimpses of a life once lived – but an old organ, wires and microphone stands hint at a history no passing pedestrian would guess.

The building is wider than the average terraced homes on the street and used to have a flat above the shop itself. 

Residents claim the property was sealed up and turned into a recording studio where famous artists once pulled up in stretch limousines.

The property, on Charlemont Road, in East Ham, has been dubbed London's 'ugliest home' and compared to Alcatraz prison

The house, which appears frozen in time, is surrounded by rusting steel and razore wire. Pictured: The yard outside the property

The inside is littered with debris - piles of cardboard boxes and bin bags line the floor 

Neighbour Donna Bull, 46, said: 'My mum said it must be London's ugliest house.' 

The wreck has finally found a buyer in Empty Property Hunters, an investment company which tracks down and 'revitalises' abandoned homes using tip-offs from the public. 

Founder Simon Taylor, 45, has been delving into the history of the East Ham home. 

He said: 'In 1979, the house got bricked up at the front and changed from commercial use on the ground floor to residential.

'It looks a bit odd because it's bricked up with no windows, but there is a reason - it was turned into a recording studio.'

The man behind the brutal brick work lived above his own studio for decades.  

Mr Taylor said: 'The gentleman who owned it lived upstairs. He passed away a couple of years ago. 

'The house has just sat there ever since but we've been able to track down his brother.

Simon Taylor, 45, founder of Empty Property Hunters, an investment company which tracks down and 'revitalises' abandoned homes using tip-offs from the public, is pictured inside the propery with an organ

This aerial photograph shows the East Ham street where the 'museum' is located  

Pictured: The recording studio where Morris Ammar produced his music

'We completed our transaction on the house in the summer and within five days we were getting started on bringing it back to life.'

The musician behind the bricks was Morris Ammar, a man who kept himself busy inside and waved to the street from an upstairs window.

While residents claim celebrities used to rock up in limousines, little more than memories remain of the comings and goings to the former recording studio.

Ms Bull remembers a kind man with a glamorous edge. She said: 'He was a musician, I remember he was on ITV speaking to a presenter about bringing out a song, collaborating with some famous people.

'Celebrities used to arrive in limos, my mum used to say "there are posh people over there, come away."'

She pictures him at his favourite spot to this day, forever fussing over his prized VW Golf.

Ms Bull said: 'Morris used to always say hello to everyone, sitting at the top middle window, dipping his head out, a really lovely chap.'

Step inside and the years fall away. The kitchen looks abandoned mid-task, with a vintage Moffat oven dulled with age, pans on the hob under a coat of dirt and plaster, wallpaper peeling from a collapsing ceiling and yellow fly traps stuck to the cupboard doors.

Wallpaper peeling from a collapsing ceiling in the kitchen of the East Ham home

In the lounge, more cardboard boxes can be seen amongst the piles of magazines and books 

Boxes climb the walls of every room. A doorway is stacked to head height with old crisp packets and water cartons. A half-inch layer of dust covers all in sight.

Tina Mehmet, 67, has lived near the property since 1981 and still remembers its heyday. 

She said: 'I remember him [Mr Ammar] recording in there, I've actually got one of his records, called Lovers Rock.

'I remember it being a fully working music studio about 30 years ago.'

Mr Taylor said: 'According to the neighbours, the last jam was heard in the house around 1995 and there's all sorts of music memorabilia that could be worth something to some collectors.'

However tragedy struck in December 2024 as Mr Ammar who was nearly 60, died of a heart attack.

His partner Caroline stayed on at the property until March the following year, but the house has remained silent ever since.

Mr Taylor said: '[The property] will 100 per cent be returned to a family home.

The staircase and walls in the hallway have been stripped in the property 

Stacks of old Volvic water and Walkers crisps boxes can be seen by the staircase

'We think you could get four or five bedrooms out of this house. The main obstacle is the front.

'The only challenge is going to be planning permission to remove the brick wall at the front.

'But we think the council will be throwing a party and cheering into the air when we say we're going to lose the Alcatraz look.'

Mr Taylor said his company, Empty Property Hunters, asks members of the public to take a photograph of the house and make a note of the address before sending in the details. 

If the property has been empty for at least 12 months and is privately owned, they receive a £20 reward whether his company buys it or not – with an additional 'finder's fee' if they sell it. 

He said: 'If we are able to buy the house, they get one per cent of the purchase price as a finder's fee.'

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