Kensington (W8)
Kensington is defined as the area between Kensington Gardens (often mistaken for Hyde Park) to the east, Holland Park to the west, Notting Hill Gate to the north and Cromwell Road to the south. Kensington contains some of London's very best addresses along with excellent schools, world class restaurants and superb recreational facilities and amenities.
Kensington is centrally located yet with the atmosphere of a sedate and leafy village (with the notable exception of High Street Kensington).
Architecturally beautiful and home to a cosmopolitan mixture of international families, diplomats and wealthy executives, Kensington is among the most popular places to live in London.
Features:
- Wide tree-lined streets
- Large family houses with impressive gardens
- Well-proportioned lateral apartments in either purpose built red brick mansion blocks or more recent conversions
- Two of London's best parks
- Good transport links
- Excellent restaurants
- Whole Foods Market
Chelsea (SW3, SW10)
Located between the River Thames to the south and Cromwell Road to the north, Sloane Square to the east and West Brompton to the west, Chelsea was built predominantly during the 19th century before which it served as a rural 'market garden' to the city of London.
Chelsea came to the fore during the 'Swinging 60's' when it was the centre of a cultural revolution which continued into the 1970's; popular with artists, musicians and boutique fashion stores. Chelsea lost its Bohemian tag in the 1980's to Notting Hill and established itself as one of the more iconic and desirable areas to live in London.
Over 70% of the Royal Borough (RBKC) is made up of conservation areas, focused on retaining the ambiance and atmosphere of the area. Development is limited and the result is largely uniformed and attractive rows of houses in streets and garden squares. Chelsea is popular with 'old money', bankers and particularly people of European extraction.
Features:
- Duke Of York Farmers Market (Saturdays only)
- The shops and cafés of the King's Road and the Fulham Road
- Excellent schools (Primary and Prep Schools)
- Peter Jones department store
- A vibrant nightlife
- Attractive architecture of a less grand nature than Kensington
Holland Park (W14, W11)
The question of where Holland Park ends, and Notting Hill begins is largely a matter of personal opinion; we consider Clarendon Road which runs north from Holland Park underground station to be the divide. The border to the west is the Holland Park Roundabout and to the south, Kensington High Street.
The white stucco fronted Italianate Villas of Holland Park and the large detached houses on Addison Road and Holland Villas Road are among the largest and most prestigious houses in London. Many of these were converted into apartments during the 1950's and 1960's when the cost of keeping large houses was considered prohibitively expensive, most have now been converted back into single family houses or large lateral apartments.
Features:
- Some of London's best independent shops and boutiques on Holland Park Avenue
- The independent shops at Clarendon Cross, including Julies Restaurant
- Holland Park, in spring it is London's most beautiful park
- A selection of London's best residential architecture
Knightsbridge (SW1)
With Harrods at its centre, Hyde Park to the north, Belgravia to the east and South Kensington to the west, Knightsbridge is a hard area to define.
Knightsbridge is probably London's most eclectic neighbourhood with residents from all corners of the globe with wealth being the one common characteristic. Particularly popular with people from Asia and the Middle East, Sloane Street is rivaled only by Bond Street as London's most exclusive and prestigious shopping destination.
Architecturally younger than neighbouring Belgravia, much of Knightsbridge was (re)built in the 20th century and more than half consists of purpose built apartments. Since the turn of the century two new developments dominate the landscape, The Knightsbridge (at 199 Knightsbridge) and across the road, One Hyde Park. The pricing record books have been torn up with more than £7,000 a square foot being achieved in One Hyde Park, it has quite simply redefined the perception of what is financially achievable for London's finest residences.
Features:
- Harrods, the world's most famous and possibly busiest shop
- The shopping of Sloane Street
- Excellent restaurants
- Hyde Park and the Serpentine
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at The Mandarin Oriental, the best restaurant in London if you can get a table...
Belgravia (SW1)
From Ebury Street to the south to Hyde Park Corner to the north, Sloane Street to the west and Grosvenor Place to the east, Belgravia has been regarded the most prestigious place to live in London for over 150 years.
The Grosvenor Estate retain the freeholds of much of Belgravia, and as such are able to ensure that almost every building is sparklingly clean and painted in uniformed white. The streets are wide and tidy, the houses are vast with prices to match. Many of the world's wealthiest people have homes in Belgravia. Naturally the local amenities, from hotels and restaurants to bakers and florists are all of the highest calibre.
Eaton Square and Chester Square are generally regarded as the two best addresses in Belgravia along with Belgrave Square which consists largely of embassies with the occasional house.
Features:
- Elizabeth Street has been given an excellent make over and has everything one could need
- Waitrose on Motcombe Street is a local favourite
- An excellent selection of small traditional pubs as well as trendy wine bars
Mayfair (W1, SW1)
Mayfair is located between Park Lane to the west, Regent Street to the east, Oxford Street to the north and Piccadilly to the south.
Traditionally a bastion of old money, not to mention the most valuable piece of real estate on the Monopoly board! Over the last decade, Mayfair has become something of a Mecca for boutique financial institutions, particularly Hedge Funds. Property values here are among the highest in London, the area is extremely popular during the week but is significantly quieter at weekends when most residents leave their pied-a-terres for the country (not necessarily the English country).
Features:
- Annabel's, currently retaining its crown as London's best evening out
- Bond Street, alongside Sloane Street, London's best designer shopping location
- The Wolseley, still London's best breakfast
- Savile Row, still producing the world's finest suits after 200 years
Notting Hill (W11, W2, W10)
Notting Hill stretches from Holland Park Tube Station in the west to Queensway Tube Station in the east, Notting Hill Gate in the south to the Westway in the north.
As recently as the early 1990's Notting Hill would have been considered very much a 'secondary location' within central London, now it is extremely popular with young professionals who are ridding it of the bohemian tag of old. Richard Curtis' film of the same name is only partly responsible for this metamorphosis, from rather unloved backwater to chic and aspirational urban epicenter.
Particularly popular with families drawn to the large houses backing onto communal gardens as well as trendy, well-heeled thirty something's drawn by the vibrant nightlife and excellent local amenities. During the last decade prices have risen more here in percentage terms than anywhere else in London.
Features:
- The Electric Cinema
- Portabello Road
- Excellent pubs and bars
- The Ledbury Restaurant
- A vibrant atmosphere
- Westbourne Grove
- Ledbury Road
South Kensington (SW7)
From the great museums on Exhibition Road in the north to the Royal Marsden hospital to the south, Yeoman's Row to the east and Earls Court Road to the west.
South Kensington comprises some beautiful quintessentially English architecture; white stucco fronted terraced houses as well as some more ornate apartment blocks and merchants houses, South Kensington has a distinctly continental atmosphere, particularly popular with the French due to its proximity to the Lycee School, there is something of a gentrified café culture around South Kensington and vast improvements have been made particularly around the tube station and up Exhibition Road.
Features:
- Independent shops and cafés
- The Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Natural History Museum
- Some excellent restaurants
- Large lateral apartments
- An informal atmosphere