23 Brook Street, Mayfair — Jimi Hendrix's London Flat

23 Brook Street in Mayfair is a Georgian townhouse with an unusual double heritage: the composer George Frideric Handel lived here from 1723 until his death in 1759, and two centuries later Jimi Hendrix rented the flat above from 1968 to 1969. Hendrix moved in with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, and in this apartment he gave some of his most intimate accounts of his musical ideas and lived what passed for a domestic life between tours. When he learned that Handel had worked in the same building, Hendrix reportedly purchased records of Handel's music. The coincidence — one of history's most technically astonishing musicians living above one of its greatest composers — has fascinated commentators ever since.

The building now operates as the Handel and Hendrix in London museum, run by the Handel House Trust, which has restored both sections to their period appearances. The museum explores the lives and work of both musicians and the unexpected resonances between them — two virtuosos separated by two centuries but connected by the same walls.

Handel and Hendrix in London is open Tuesday through Saturday and is located a short walk from Bond Street tube station. The Hendrix rooms have been restored to approximate their appearance during his tenancy, with period furnishings and personal effects. It is the only museum dedicated to Hendrix in London and holds the city's only English Heritage blue plaque for him — installed on the building's exterior facing Brook Street.