Open House London is an organisation which promotes appreciation of architecture by the general public. It organises tours, lectures, educational projects for children and so on, but it is best known for Open House Weekend, a two day event which takes place on one weekend each September throughout London since 1992. The event is the London chapter of the European wide "Journees Europeennes du Patrimoine", an event started in France in 1984. During that weekend, many European buildings considered to be of architectural significance open their doors for free public tours. The 2005 event which took place on the 17th & 18th of September featured five hundred buildings including banks, offices, government buildings, and even private homes. Well known buildings not usually open to the public which were open on Open House weekend in 2005 included Marlborough House, Lancaster House, the Mansion House, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Horse Guards. The event attracts tens of thousands of people. Queues are several hours long at some buildings, and in other cases admission is by advance booking of a guided tour only. The most recent Open House London event was the weekend of 15th and 16th September, 2007.
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