Samuel Wolfson School

In March 1929 the building was built and in 1930 Bayswater Jewish School moved to Lancaster Road from Harrow Road. They changed its name to Kensington Bayswater Jewish School. In 1937 the institution had financial debts but was saved by a Glaswegian benefactor, Solomon Wolfson, and renamed in his honour.

Samuel Wolfson School finally closes in 1981 a direct result of a lessened Jewish population in the Notting Hill area.

From 1981 to 1986 the building was derelict.

The London Lighthouse

In 1986 the building was purchased by Christopher Spence and John Shine in order to look after people affected by HIV and AIDS. The Centre was called London Lighthouse and it officially opened in 1988. The Lighthouse was supported and visited several times by Princess Diana, and other celebrities such as Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Sir Elton John.

The residential unit closed in 1998, and London Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust (named in memory of Terrance Higgins, one of the first people known to have died of an AIDS-related illness in the UK) merged in 2000. The Terrance Higgins Trust completed the sale of the London Lighthouse building on Wednesday, 3rd March 2015 to the Museum of Brands.

The Museum of Brands

Renovations started in June 2015, and the Museum of Brands reopened in its new location at 111-117 Lancaster Road in October of the same year.

The Museum of Brands is based on the collection of one man, Robert Opie. Robert started collecting in 1963 when he was 16 years old. Over the last 50 years, he has amassed in the region of 500,00 artefacts of branded products, advertising material, toys, games, clothes, furniture, TVs and radios. The Museum of Brands displays around 12,000 items from his collection, (around 3% of the total), with the rest stored in various archives around the country.