Because Kew was originally a strip of land near the Thames, it got the name “Kew”. Kew is an anglicized version of “queue” meaning “tail” in French. Since Kew was close to Richmond Palace, many aristocrats had their houses there. The village and its green were mainly developed in the 18th century. Sir Henry Capel had a particularly grand house and gardens at Kew, which were bought by the Prince of Wales in the 1730s. He renamed the house Kew Palace. His widow, Princess Augusta, expanded the gardens which are now Kew Gardens - or to give them their full title, The Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew Gardens covers 300 acres. George III, who was nick-named “Farmer George”, had his children drilled in gardening there. George III demolished the palace in order to build a new one but never did. What is now called Kew Palace was in fact a nearby house called the Dutch House where the royal family lived while periodically renovating and destroying the actual palace.

There are large Georgian houses and cottages around Kew Green. Next to Kew Bridge, Bush Road leads into the Kew Park Estate which is a private estate built in the 1970s with houses and flats. On the east side of the bridge, there are cottages in streets such as Cambridge and Thetis Cottages near the river. Priory Road is the centre of a conservation area of Victorian and Edwardian houses between Mortlake Road and the river, which includes Bushwood Road and Maze Road. Further round, beyond the Public Record Office, is Kew Riverside Park with six blocks of flats, followed by Kew Riverside with over 500 new homes.

The other residential area is between Kew Gardens and Sandycombe Road. There are very large detached Victorian houses in Broomfield Road, Lichfield Road and Emmerdale Road. There are small houses in the streets further south, such as The Avenue and Fitzwilliam Avenue, some of which are from the 1930s or the more modern era. Over the railway lines and towards Mortlake Road, there are large 1930s houses in the streets there such as Atwood Avenue and Chelwood Gardens.