Where to buy in Chelsea

Chelsea was a fashionable location for the rich, when Kensington and most of Westminster was still open fields. So it retains an individual style and character. Much of Chelsea is within the Cadogan Estate, which still owns the freeholds of many Chelsea properties. King’s Road neatly divides Chelsea in half. Most of the area above Kings Road from Sloane Street and Sloane Square west to Sloane Avenue is Cadogan Estate property. Red brick predominates, as contrasted with the cream stucco of Belgravia or Kensington. The Cadogan Estate extends a short distance on the east side of Sloane Street, with the elegant terraced houses of Cadogan Place and its private garden square. There are much smaller houses and mews houses in Cadogan Lane behind Cadogan Place. The larger part of the Cadogan Estate lies west of Sloane Street. Cadogan Square is the centrepiece with large terraced houses around a garden square. The houses are constructed in the late Victorian “Dutch style” or “Queen Anne revival style”, using red brick facades and elaborate gables for the roofs. The same style extends west into Lennox Gardens although that is not part of the Cadogan Estate. Cadogan Gardens contains late Victorian mansion blocks in a similar style. There are smaller mews-style houses in Pavilion Road, Clabon Mews and Shafto Mews. Between Cadogan Street and Walton Street there is a cluster of streets with terraces of smaller houses. Walton Street is mainly shops, but contains some terraces of small houses. Cadogan Street contains some Georgian houses, with smaller Victorian properties in the streets behind leading to Sloane Avenue.

Sloane Avenue and the area to the west contains very different kind of housing. There are some enormous mansion blocks from the pre-War period, such as Nell Gwynn House, Cranmer Court and Chelsea Cloisters. In Lucan Place, Crown Lodge is a more recent block of flats. Chelsea Green is a survivor from earlier days and links to a series of much smaller streets with contrasting house styles, from pastel-coloured Victorian houses in Bywater Street to brick-faced houses of the inter-war period in Jubilee Place. Sydney Street, the next main street between Fulham Road and Kings Road, has terraced houses at the Fulham Road end. Beyond that there are three-storey houses built by the Cadogan Estate in the 1930s. Further on is Carlyle Square with traditional stucco houses from early Victorian times round attractive gardens. There are large houses converted into flats in Elm Park Gardens through to Beaufort Street. There are smaller properties, many also converted into flats, in the streets to the south, such as Mulberry Walk and Mallord Street. Chelsea Park Gardens contain pre-War houses and villas. Elm Park Mansions is a large mansion block on Park Walk. Between Park Walk and Edith Grove are more large Victorian houses in streets running back from Kings Road, such as Langton Street and Shalcomb Street, many of which are still in single family occupation.

On the south side of Kings Road, next to Lower Sloane Street, Christopher Wren’s Royal Hospital - a home for old soldiers - is the main feature of the area. St Leonard’s Terrace contains Georgian and early Victorian houses with a view over the Royal Hospital grounds. Other nearby streets have similar views. Embankment Gardens is a mansion block overlooking the hospital and the Thames. The streets around Duke of York’s Barracks contain terraces of Victorian houses. Cheltenham Terrace contains the mansion blocks of Whiteland’s House. Other huge mansion blocks are to be found in Sloane Court East and Sloane Court West.

Further west along the Embankment towards Beaufort Street is the oldest part of Chelsea. The Beaufort Street end contains a number of large mansion blocks, such as Beaufort Mansions. Nearby Paultons Square contains terraces of mid-Victorian houses with a garden square. Danvers Street also has Victorian terraced houses. Cheyne Walk by the river contains some of the oldest houses in London with some going as far back as the 17th century. The most attractive enclave is the group of little streets off Cheyne Walk including Justice Walk and Glebe Place. Oakley Street is back to large-scale red brick mansion blocks, such as Pier House. On the other side, open gardens and surrounding streets have more small scale terraces and cottage style houses. Flood Street again contains large houses and some mansion blocks. This area is a sandwich of small houses in small winding streets between large terraces and mansion blocks on the large streets running from King’s Road to the river, such as Beaufort Street, Oakley Street and Flood Street. East of Flood Street there are artisan cottages in Christchurch Street and Smith Terrace. There are Georgian houses in Swan Walk and modern townhouses in Paradise Walk and Physic Place. Finally, there is West Chelsea between Beaufort Street and Lots Road. Just on the other side of Edith Grove, Lots Road contains terraces of small houses leading towards the power station and Chelsea Harbour (which is actually in Hammersmith and Fulham). On the Chelsea side of the one-way system, stands the World’s End estate of flats. More council properties lie behind.