The area now known as Holland Park was originally part of the grounds of Holland House. This was a Jacobean mansion built for Sir Walter Cope, who was James I’s Chancellor. The house was built in 1606 and called Cope’s castle. It passed into the Holland family when Cope’s daughter married the Earl of Holland. He was executed by the Parliamentarians in the Civil War, and the house was confiscated, but it was restored to Lady Holland when Charles II came to the throne. Holland Park was built on part of the estate near Bayswater Road which was sold off for housing development in 1866 to pay for the family’s lavish lifestyle.

The heart of Hampstead is Hampstead High Street. Between here and Hampstead Heath is a jumble of small streets containing attractive houses from the Georgian through to the Edwardian era. New End and Cannon Place, for example, contain large family houses. And Gainsborough Gardens is a large circular road off Well Walk with late Victorian houses. Nearer the Heath are a number of large mansion blocks such as the Priors and Dellmore. Hampstead High Street runs into Heath Street. There are some residential streets on the west side of Heath Street going north, in squares such as Golden Yard and Mount Square, and streets such as Hampstead Grove and Admiral’s Walk. Two hospitals in this area, Mount Vernon Hospital in Frognal Rise and New End Hospital in Heath Street have been converted into flats. Further south roads widen out and Frognal Gardens and Frognal contain terraces of houses as early as the reign of Queen Anne. Even further south, there are large houses in the area toward Swiss Cottage, such as Fitzjohn’s Avenue and Maresfield Gardens. West of Hampstead Village towards Finchley Road there are large Victorian houses in the streets there such as West Heath Road, Platts Lane and Arkwright Road. The largest houses are in West Heath Road. There are attractive houses of all sorts to be found in this area, in streets such as Redington Gardens, Heath Drive and Ferncroft Avenue. The best houses are in Redington Road and Chesterford Gardens.

On the east side of Hampstead Village, just below Gainsborough Gardens, there are more Victorian terraces in streets such as Willow Road. Downshire Hill has earlier Regency houses. South Hill Park extends further round the bottom of the Heath towards Gospel Park. Here is the Mansfield Road conservation area with Victorian streets such as Constantine Road, Mansfield Road and Fleet Road. On the other side of the Fleet Road is the Royal Free Hospital and houses to the south of that, towards Belsize Park, are a mixture of family houses and council estates. There are desirable houses in the streets running from Fleet Road to Haverstock Hill, such as Parkhill, Upper Park Road and Lawn Road.

West Hampstead

There is a group of streets between Fortune Green and the railway line through to West Hampstead. These lie just south of Hampstead Cemetery. Gondar Gardens and Millfield Road contain some large Victorian houses, and there are also mansion blocks in Dunbar Gardens. “The Greeks” a set of streets named after heroes from the Iliad, such as Agamemnon Road and Achilles Road, contain family houses. The streets below Mill Lane, such as Sumatra and Narcissus Roads contain terraces of two and three-storey properties. Further to the west of Fortune Green, a group of streets off Minster Road, such as Somali and Asmara Roads, contain semi-detached properties. Cholmondeley Gardens is a popular mansion block on Fortune Green Road. There is a clutch of large mansion blocks in the area known as “the West End” in West End Lane and streets around it. These include Buckingham Mansions, Malborough Mansions, Yale Court and Harvard Court. Closer to Finchley Road Station, there are large detached houses in Alvanley Gardens and Lymington Road.

Between West End Lane and Kilburn High Road, south of the station, there are council estates, but also a group of streets between Sheriff and Hemstal Roads with attractive terraced properties. East of West End Lane, and still south of the station, there is an estate originally laid out by Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, Lord Mayor of Hampstead in late Victorian times. He was thwarted in his plan to build over Hampstead Heath, but created an estate called the Maryon Wilson Estate in this area. There are mansion blocks in Canfield and Fairfield Gardens, and others, and there are attractive flats and houses to be found in streets from Broadhurst Gardens down to Aberdare Gardens. There are large houses to be found in Priory Road and Priory Terrace.

There are two ancient barrows in Hampstead and Boadicea is said to have been buried in one in 62 AD. The word “stead” means estate in Anglo Saxon (as in the modern “homestead”) and Hampstead probably takes its name from an owner of the land in Anglo Saxon times. It was a wooded area until the 17th century, when most of the timber was cut down for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of London. Hampstead became fashionable in the 18th century. Its spring water was sold in taverns – the Perrier of the day. A race course was opened at Jack Straw’s Castle. When the Gordon rioters marched on Hampstead to attack a minister’s house, the landlord of the Spaniards Public House diverted them by giving them free drinks until soldiers arrived. Dick Turpin used to keep his famous horse, Black Bess, stabled nearby. In 1829, the Lord of the Manor tried to build houses on Hampstead Heath, but a petition from local residents caused Parliament to refuse permission. The heath was preserved as a public park. Parliament Hill and the grounds of Kenwood house have been added since. Many famous people lived in Hampstead village; William Pitt the elder, Byron, Keats, H. G. Wells, and Freud, to name a few.

Highgate Village lies just north of Highgate Cemetery. The oldest houses are to be found in The Grove, where there are grand houses from the 17th century. Fitzroy Park is a private road leading off The Grove with some large family houses. Some houses in this area overlook Hampstead Heath. Other desirable locations in the village include Pond Square which contains 18th-century houses as well as some mansion blocks, Bisham Gardens with Victorian terraced houses, Swain’s Lane which runs down the side of Highgate Cemetery, and Highgate West Hill. Highgate West Hill which winds round between the village and the heath contains a variety of houses from large detached houses to cottages. Off Highgate West Hill is a small estate known as the Holly Lodge Estate, with Hillway at its centre and streets running across it, which mainly contain mock-Tudor houses and blocks of flats. There are more modern housing developments in this area such as West Hill Park from the 1970s near Highgate Ponds. On the other side Southwood Lawn Road, Cholmeley Park and Cholmeley Crescent contain Victorian houses, and there are post-War mansion blocks such as Southwood Hall, Cholmeley Lodge and Northwood Hall. Hillside Gardens, Jackson’s Lane and Southwood Lane contain more modern houses with a communal garden.

On the other side of Archway Road, but north of Hornsey Lane, is high up and contains a number of mansion blocks with good views over Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace. Panorama Court, Highgate Heights and Stanhope House are popular mansion blocks along Shepherds Hill. The most sought-after houses in the area are in Hurst Avenue, and there are modern flats in the “Miltons”, comprising Milton Park and houses off it, where there is a mixture of houses and flats. Northwood Hall is a large mansion block in this area. South of Hornsey Lane is the Whitehall Park conservation area with terraces of Victorian houses in Whitehall Park itself and streets to the south.

West of Highgate Village, Hampstead Lane runs round the top of Hampstead Heath. Various streets run off it to the North around Highgate golf course and there are very large houses in the streets such as Courtenay Avenue, Compton Avenue, Sheldon Avenue and Stormont Road. They are very close to The Bishops Avenue and have corresponding prices. Bishopswood Road and Broadlands Road, close to Highgate School, also contain large houses. North Road and North Hill leading back to Archway Road contain attractive period houses and also some mansion blocks.

Highgate was part of an estate owned by the Bishops of London. The road to the village went round the hill, but it was often impossible to use in winter, and in the 14th century the Bishop of London allowed villagers to construct a road over the hill. The bishop had toll gates erected at either end, to collect a fee from users, and the one at the top of the hill gave its name to Highgate. Legend has it that it was here that Dick Whittington heard Bow Bells and turned again to seek his fortune in London. Pond Square is where there used to be ponds formed from gravel pits in the past. They were filled in during the 19th century. Highgate School was started by Sir Roger Connolly in 1565 on the site of a hermit’s chapel. (Hermits used to survive by taking a hovel or cave near a road and maintaining the road to earn a pittance.) Highgate became attractive to rich Londoners as a place to have a home. The Grove was Highgate’s most fashionable location. Some of the houses still there today were built in the 17th century. Coleridge, J. B. Priestley and Yehudi Menuhin lived there. Queen Victoria was nearly killed on West Hill in 1837, when the horses of her carriage bolted. The landlord of the local pub, the Fox and Crown, finally got them under control, for which he was allowed to put up with the Royal Arms on his pub - rather a meagre reward, I would have thought. Highgate Cemetery was set up in 1839 and quickly became a tourist attraction. The Victorians liked to visit cemeteries and admire the head stones. Karl Marx is buried there.

Ravenscourt Park is the area between Goldhawk Road, King Street and Paddenswick Road. The streets near Ravenscourt Park – Ravenscourt Road, Park, Gardens and Square – are now a conservation area containing Georgian and Victorian houses from terraces to detached villas, some with views over the Park. Attractive houses are also to be found on the other side of Paddenswick Road in Wingate Road, Dorville Crescent and connecting roads. Similarly, on the other side of Goldhawk Road in the roads named for Stamford Brook and Ashchurch. There are also new houses and flats on the sites of two former hospitals: The Royal Masonic Hospital near the Park and Queen Charlotte’s Hospital near Goldhawk Road. There are mansion blocks in Hamlet Gardens.

Between the Ravenscourt Park are and Hammersmith Grove is the Brackenbury village area. This contains mainly small to medium sized Victorian terraced houses in streets such as Brackenbury Road and Carthew Street. Houses tend to be larger, and split into flats, near Hammersmith Grove.

Brook Green on the east side of Shepherd’s Bush Road is the most popular residential area in Hammersmith. The best houses are round the green itself in Brook Green (the road). This road also contains a mansion block, Queen’s Mansions, modern flat developments near the Green, and a gated estate of new houses and flats in Windsor Way. There are smaller houses in the streets to the south, such as Rowan Road and Terrace, tucked in just above the Hammersmith Road. North of Brook Green there are red brick Victorian terraces in the streets up to Blythe Road. In this area there are flats in Kensington West and in Latymer Court. Beyond Blythe Road there are larger Victorian house in the Addison Gardens and Bolingbroke Road area.

South of the Hammersmith flyover lies Barons Court. This mainly contains large Victorian houses converted into flats. One particularly popular area is south of Barons Court Road between the Queens Club and North End Road. But the most popular flats are in Queens Club Gardens. This is a series of late-Victorian mansion blocks just south of the club itself. There are more mansion blocks from late Edwardian times in the strip between Talgarth Road and Hammersmith Road, particularly in the North End Road area, such as Talgarth Mansions and West Kensington Mansions. Just north of Queens Club Gardens, Palliser Road and streets to the west contain large family houses and villas which are much sought after.

The streets between Fulham Palace Road and the river contain some blocks of flats and converted commercial premises. There have been various new developments built here in recent decades, such as the riverside blocks of Thames Reach and the converted Harrods Depository Building. It also contains the Crabtree Estate which is a group of streets from Crabtree Lane (near the Lillie Road junction) up to Hammersmith Bridge Road containing small terraced houses from the early 20th century. The slender strip of land between the Great West Road and the river, on the west side of Hammersmith Bridge Road, contains Georgian houses in Hammersmith Terrace and Upper Mall and Lower Mall. Chiswick Mall is the strip between Great West Road and the river on the other side of Hammersmith Bridge Road. The strip between Fulham Palace Road and the river contains some Georgian houses along Hammersmith Terrace. More modern houses have been built at Lord Napier Place and flats at King Henry’s Reach. On the north of the Great West Road, there is an enclave of stucco-faced large Victorian houses in St Peter’s Square, a conservation area. This area also contains some Art Deco mansion blocks.

Hammersmith takes its name, fairly obviously, from “hammer” and the “smithy” where the hammer would have been used to make metal implements. The town grew around the crossing of two main roads out of London. Attractive houses such as Hammersmith Terrace (1755) were built in the 18th century along the river from the present day Hammersmith Bridge to Chiswick. Hammersmith Bridge was the first suspension bridge in London when it was built in 1824. Sir Joseph Bazalgette designed the replacement bridge which was constructed in 1883-7.

Chelsea Harbour is a riverside development of the 1980s which took advantage of an abandoned harbour to create an arena with residential mansion blocks and one tower block. It carries the Chelsea name, but is in fact in Fulham. Lots Road and its power station which may be developed in the near future. Between Lots Road and Kings Road there are a collection of red brick workmen’s cottages. Next to Chelsea Harbour on the West is an area called Sands End. This has now been almost completely redeveloped as the Imperial Wharf development, which will even overshadow Chelsea Harbour as a residential complex by the time it is fully occupied. One particular problem of this area is transport, since the tube line is already overloaded.

The streets on either side of Wandsworth Bridge Road are part of a conservation area known as the Peterborough Estate. The estate was constructed by J. Nicholls. On the west side of Wandsworth Bridge Road, between South Park and Kings Road as far west as Peterborough Road, the estate has large red brick Victorian terraced houses. These are the streets south off New King’s Road from Perrymead Street to Peterborough Road. The estate also extends on the east side of Wandsworth Bridge Road as far as Bagley’s Lane. Between Imperial Wharf and Wandsworth Bridge Road, near the river, are some streets of late Victorian terraces, such as Stevendale Road and the roads off it. They are lately Victorian terraced houses. This is below the Peterborough Estate and the streets near the estate are built in similar style.

West of the Peterborough Estate and south of new Kings Road is the Hurlingham conservation area, containing the Hurlingham Club and Park. Streets include Napier Avenue, Ranelagh Avenue and Gardens, and Hurlingham Gardens on the west side of the Park towards Putney Bridge, with some streets running up to New Kings Road. The houses are mainly large detached and semi-detached houses from the late Victorian era. There are some mansion blocks as well, and also new developments from the late 20th century in some places. Moving on round the river past Putney Bridge, you find Bishop’s Park and its conservation area between Fulham Palace Road and Stevenage Road near the river. The streets of the conservation area include Woodlawn Road and the streets running across it to Fulham Palace Road such as Inglethorpe Street and Doneraile Street. These are mainly late Victorian terraced and semi-detached houses in tree-lined roads, not necessarily as big as those in the Hurlingham area. On the river bank itself there are various apartment blocks, many constructed in the 1970s, but with some very recent prestigious ones, with views across the river to the wildlife sanctuary in Barnes.

Parsons Green takes in Kings Road and Fulham Road and goes up as far north as Bishops Road. Streets such as Delvino Road and Crondace Road in the area just west of Walham Green contain terraces of Victorian houses from the 1890s, many with bay windows. Many of the streets between Kings Road and Bishops Road, such as Whittingstall Street and St Maur Road, contain larger Victorian houses.

North of the Fulham Road, the streets around Dawes Road (extending from Bishops Road to Lillie Road) are packed full of medium sized terraced houses built at the end of the Victorian and into the Edwardian era. The more attractive properties are to the south in streets such as Brookville Road, Rosaville Road and Parkville Road

On the other side of North End Road is Fulham Broadway, also known as Walham Green, although what remains of the green is called Eel Brook Common. There are large Victorian houses here and Walham Grove itself is a conservation area. The houses are generally in terraces built in the 1860s. Seagrave Road and Brompton Park Crescent are the limits of this area. Beyond are the railway lines and the Chelsea football ground. On the other side of Fulham Road lies Moore Park Road and streets crossing it as far as King’s Road. There is a variety of Victorian houses, from mid to late period, including terraces and detached houses. Although these are very close to Chelsea football ground, they are physically separated from the roads approaching the club.

The name is supposed to have come from Fulla, an Anglo-Saxon owner of the area, and meant Fulla’s Settlement. There were several villages which gradually got merged into Fulham – Fulham Town, Parsons Green, Walham Green, North End and Sands End. In the 18th century, there was a large number of market gardens and nurseries in the area. Fulham was also the home of some rich Londoners, who mainly lived in Parsons Green which was considered to be the posh part of Fulham. Walham Green, the area round Fulham Broadway, was the location of the local stocks and a whipping post. The Bishop of London traditionally had his home at Fulham Palace. King’s Road which runs from Eaton Square to Fulham was originally a private royal road which Charles II used to reach his palace at Hampton Court. It was only allowed to be used by the public in 1830. Fulham was largely developed into working-class housing in the 19th century, although the Fulham Palace Road area still contained market gardens until the early 20th century. Large gasworks were created near the river in the 20th century and Sands End was created with rows of workers’ cottages for the people who worked at the gasworks.

Earls Court Square is symbolic of the whole area - with large houses converted into flats during the last century. It is surrounded by crescents containing large properties backing onto communal gardens, also converted into flats. These include Eardley Crescent, Kempsford Gardens and (further north) Philbeach Gardens. Between Warwick Road and Earls Court Road is the area of Nevern Square, Nevern Place and other desirable residential streets above Trebovir Road. The large properties here were converted into hotels in the mid- 20th century, but have now mainly been turned into flats. There are also some original Victorian mansion blocks. On the other side of Earls Court Road heading towards Collingham Road, popular residential streets such as Bramham Gardens and Barkston Gardens contain mainly red-brick Victorian buildings, often surrounding private garden squares. There are also enclaves of stucco-faced houses in Courtfield Gardens and nearby streets.

South of Old Brompton Road, the area west of the Little Boltons is also considered part of Earls Court nowadays. There are large terraced houses divided into flats in this area, which includes attractive streets such as Redcliffe Square and the very large mansion block, Coleherne Court.