The core of the area was originally the south field of the Manor house. That is where the name rather unimaginatively came from. It was largely an agricultural area up until the late 18th century. But it was on the banks of the river Wandle, which runs from Croydon to the Thames at Wandsworth, and there were many mills on the river bank using water power to manufacture paper, copper products and dyes. The land was owned by the Spencer family. The Third Earl sold off a lot of the land to pay debts in 1835 and several estates for rich City businessmen were built there. When the railway was extended from Putney to Wimbledon, Southfields station was still in the countryside. The area was slow to be developed and parts of the open land were still being covered in new houses in the early 20th century. The western side of Southfields was very heavily developed with tower blocks for council tenants after the Second World War.

The streets between Astonville Street, Elsenham Road, Revelstoke Road and Replingham Road are called “the Southfields Grid” because of the unusually orderly - for London - layout of the streets. The houses are mainly Edwardian, but many have been split into flats. North of Replingham Road, the streets between Pulborough Road, Granville Road and Merton Road also contain Edwardian houses in tree-lined roads. Southfields continues to the west over the railway lines with a less regimented street plan. Houses, such as those in the Southdean Gardens, which back onto Wimbledon Park are very sought-after.

The streets off West Hill between Sutherland Grove and Beaumont Road, such as Skeena Hill and Coombemartin Road, were mainly built in the 1930s and in mock-Tudor style. West of Beaumont Road is a mixture of private and council-built property as far as Augustus Road. Further south, Augustus Road contains large detached houses from the 1930s as well as some flat developments like The Acorns and Doradas Court. Princes Way includes modern Victorian terraced townhouses and modern Tudor houses. Inner Park Road contains a mix of old and more modern blocks of flats. Queensmere Road contains mainly large detached modern houses. West Hill, which is the area to the east of Sutherland Grove, contains large semi-detached houses such as Melrose Road. Merton Road contains Edwardian mansion blocks as well as some detached and semi-detached houses. The Wandle Valley area between Merton Road and Garratt Lane contains some terraces of Edwardian houses.