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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What’s going on in this situation?

137 replies

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

OP posts:
NewAgeNewMe · 10/01/2026 02:06

If you need security why would you visibly sit in full sight. Also is there security at the back? I’ve always preferred the roads off Bishops Avenue. My favourite is Winnington. Never could afford it though.

LucyClayton · 10/01/2026 10:07

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

Maybe they're making a film or box set. Who knows.. Why are you worried?

MusicMakesItAllBetter · 10/01/2026 10:40

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 08:01

Love these!
I do have a cat…

But why are they not sitting just inside by the door? Also, how are they actually effective if they look at their phone because they are bored? (I’d be too if I had to sit for hours there!)

"security"

MusicMakesItAllBetter · 10/01/2026 10:40

LucyClayton · 10/01/2026 10:07

Maybe they're making a film or box set. Who knows.. Why are you worried?

My thoughts.
Filming

Thestormishere · 10/01/2026 10:44

Definitely not filming, there are loads of movies being made around here and central London and the set up is completely different, with vans, crews, props, people. Not a man in a car looking bored.

OP posts:
MusicMakesItAllBetter · 10/01/2026 10:47

I still think security although what he'd doing against 2 or more.... 🤷🏼‍♂️

tommyhoundmum · 10/01/2026 12:37

There is often protection for jurists

1clavdivs · 10/01/2026 16:47

MusicMakesItAllBetter · 10/01/2026 10:47

I still think security although what he'd doing against 2 or more.... 🤷🏼‍♂️

He’d call the police.

Snakebite61 · 10/01/2026 19:31

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

I couldn't care less.

Jesslovesengineering · 10/01/2026 21:50

TemporarilyCantDoMyself · 09/01/2026 09:47

Is it Dutch culture to have no curiosity at all? No wonder poor Van Gogh went mad! 😂

I'm British and share the Dutch woman's bewilderment. Genuinely shocked at the level of interest some people have in what random strangers do. I don't think curtain twitching would have improved Van Gogh's mental health.

Hmm1234 · 10/01/2026 22:36

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

They have security and are important people? Why is that so abnormal for the houses/ area you have described? You sound like a bored housewife hoping for a murder mystery stop curtain twitching

outerspacepotato · 10/01/2026 22:42

Surveillance.

Although I love the team preventing people from parking on front of the house idea.

Minglingpringle · 10/01/2026 22:52

Top politician. We used to have one on our road.

daleylama · 11/01/2026 00:10

Snakebite61 · 10/01/2026 19:31

I couldn't care less.

Dredged up sufficient energy to let us all know though. Bless

PullUpYourBigGirlPants · 11/01/2026 00:13

Mind your own business and stay on your cheap side of the road

Umy15r03lcha1 · 11/01/2026 00:33

friedaddedchilli · 09/01/2026 10:24

Bishop's Avenue?

Or Kensington

Zsazsagirdlebuns21 · 11/01/2026 09:07

Travel companion dilemma- to me & 1 other of our group of 3 it is putting us on high alert & shredding my nerves .
in a nutshell - Long haul travel planned for at least 2yrs - booked 6 months ago .

1 of us has not been interested in anything to do with the trip. As per the norm these days we have a Whattsapp group solely for this trip .
This one person has ignored most of the information/ questions etc then comes back at myself in a negative way accusing me of ‘not asking’ ‘ doing it all myself ‘ & not including them !
the other person responds , we talk via phone. Etc .
The complaining one has always stated they are “ Too Busy” ! Then questions everything without going through the previous thread.Though not directly with me but with our other TC .

When a meeting was arranged . They were 2 hours late , it took me 2 hrs to travel each way . ( I live in a different part of country - they live in same area as each other )

it has now reached crucial levels & the travel date is imminent.

i have to find a coping mechanism to deal with the negativity & what this person calls ‘banter ‘ but which is downright rude ! Sorry I didn’t mention that before but , over Christmas I had to mention it as they made remarks that had me in tears 😭 for the whole of the day . When I eventually messaged to
1 ; apologise if I had upset them ( more on this later )
2: To actually say you upset me so much I was in tears all day at my family’s Christmas get-together
3: To say they’d been downright rude to my husband !
the response , I got was it’s BANTTER!!!!
nothing else just that !!!

So where are we now - Said person had surgery at Christmas ( re my message to say I apologise if I’d upset them if they were feeling poorly.
The call had been to see how they were & just escalated out and of all proportions .

Like everything there is far more going on & the 3rd person is a laid back person normally but is also now being ‘ranted at ‘
My fear is that they will be in the middle of this - they have their own coping mechanisms to deal with.
and tbh before I never truly realised just how this persons behaviour was constantly.

Added to which this 1 TC now has complications re post op ! Seems to be ignoring the fact that it may well impact travel .
The fact that they have also dragged heels on Travel Insurance & have still NOT managed to deal with this is jarring to say the least .
For my part , I have now washed my hands of ‘asking’ re this . Our other TC has taken the lead on this as my input was like a red tag to a bull 🐂 to put it mildly .

They don’t realise the jeopardy of not dealing with this & the impact of not answering correctly when they do finally deal with it .
How do I know ?
Because they should be concerned about it rather than ignoring that they’ve not dealt wit it .
I could go on but it’s getting like war & peace .
I just needed to off load , my DH is fed up with listening to the long conversations between myself & other TC .
The angst we are feeling.

anon666 · 11/01/2026 09:30

I've got nothing useful to add but started watching The Night Manager last night so obviously this has me intrigued.

And I'm howling at some of the comments, especially the rich person paying someone to park there. 🤣

LardyCakeLover · 11/01/2026 10:51

Thestormishere · 10/01/2026 10:44

Definitely not filming, there are loads of movies being made around here and central London and the set up is completely different, with vans, crews, props, people. Not a man in a car looking bored.

I was bored so just look at Street View on Google maps for the road - what is going on with this house?

What’s going on in this situation?
TemporarilyCantDoMyself · 11/01/2026 11:33

@Zsazsagirdlebuns21 you're on someone else's thread, you need to start your own. You could also do with a re-write, I could hardly make head nor tail of what you're trying to say to the point I stopped trying. Best of luck with whatever it is though!

ADHDdiagnosis · 11/01/2026 11:42

You see i would go and ask at the front door but now i know that’s the ADHD 🤣

askmenow · 11/01/2026 11:56

HayceeDeeCee · 09/01/2026 19:19

Download the the Title plan from the Land Registry, will give details of the who owns Freehold... will cost you 7 quid but they are publicly available documents. My money is on Foreign Royal or Diplomat.

Please do this 👆we’ll start a “Go fund me”

ForNoisyCat · 11/01/2026 12:31

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

Someone very scared who has received threats to their safety/wellbeing or believes they are seriously st risk. Driver in car ready to chase.

Pherian · 11/01/2026 13:46

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

Personally I’d just mind my own business.

Thestormishere · 11/01/2026 13:51

LardyCakeLover · 11/01/2026 10:51

I was bored so just look at Street View on Google maps for the road - what is going on with this house?

Hello, I hope you don’t mind but I reported your post and asked for the photo to be taken down as that is a special education setting that I think should not be discussed online.

OP posts: