North End Road
Hampstead Garden Suburb, London NW11
Architect: Lipton Plant Architects
Register for similar homes"The house was built around 1928 to a design by George Coles, who later in his career became one of the best-known Art Deco cinema architects"
Marking the entrance to Hampstead Garden Suburb on North End Road, this elegant three-bedroom apartment sits within an arts and crafts house by the notable art deco cinema architect George Coles. Recently renovated by Lipton Plant architects, the interiors seamlessly combine 1920s details such as tiled inglenook fireplaces and beautiful bay windows with modern elements in soft shades of green and dusty pink.
Wonderfully located in a conservation area only five minutes’ walk from Hampstead Heath and Golder’s Hill Park, this building embodies the character of Hampstead Garden Suburb. This house was built around 1928 to a design by George Coles, who later in his career became one of the best-known Art Deco cinema architects, and later converted to apartments. The interiors have recently been upgraded with exceptional care by Lipton Plant architects, to retain the wonderfully high ceilings, leaded glass bay windows and iroko floors.
Entry is a lovely lobby with decorative glass panels and marble floor tiles. Unusually for the area, the 1920s house was converted to apartments in the 1950s, and this one occupies the entire ground floor. To the left is a huge double living space, with original sliding doors that separate what is now the kitchen from the living room. The kitchen is fitted with pale pink and plywood cabinetry that sits harmoniously within the smart cornicing of the room.
Each of the living spaces has a bay window, the larger of which is a wonderfully curved seven-panel form. During recent renovations the architects revealed two fireplaces, a handsome working inglenook with gently mottled sand coloured tiles and wood panelling, and a further 1950s iteration that has been tiled to match.
Across the hall are three bedrooms, of which the master is en suite, and a family bathroom. The apartment is incredibly bright and looks onto private gardens from every aspect. There is a garage and further parking space.
North End Road is an eight-minute walk from Golders Green Underground station (Northern Line), which also has good bus connections. The wonderfully wild Hampstead Heath extension is within close reach, along with Kenwood House, the swimming ponds, and the much loved Spaniards Inn for excellent Sunday roasts.
Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1906, to coincide with the extension of the Underground system to Golders Green. Her intention was to prevent swathes of identical middle class houses being built, that had neither design nor community in mind. She commissioned a masterplan from Sir Raymond Unwin, later overseen by Sir Edwin Lutyens, to include communal squares, wide streets lined with flowering trees, parks and facilities. These are still incredibly well-maintained and the overall character of the conservation area is preserved by a governing trust.
Tenure: Leasehold
Lease Length: approx. 850 years remaining
Parking: Off street and private garage
Council Tax Band: TBC
Service Charge: approx. £650 per annum. The charge covers buildings insurance.
Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.
History
Described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as “the most nearly perfect example of that English invention and speciality, the garden suburb”, the group of houses, community buildings and squares that border Hampstead Heath are of significant note in British architectural history.
Hampstead Garden suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1906, to coincide with the extension of the Underground system to Golders Green. As the wife of Cannon Samuel Barnett, vicar of St Jude’s Whitechapel, her architectural and social experiment was inspired by personal experiences of poverty and poor living conditions in her husband’s inner city parish. Barnett was concerned that the extension of the underground would bring swathes of identical middle-class houses to the area, that had neither design nor community in mind.
After acquiring 243 acres from Eton College, she commissioned a masterplan from Sir Raymond Unwin (later overseen by Sir Edwin Lutyens) to include communal squares, wide streets lined with flowering trees, parks and facilities. Unwin aimed to avoid monotony and uniformity by making use of existing contours, gently curving roads, intimate closes and grand vistas. Barnett envisioned houses, flats, and mansions that would provide for all needs, with the richer subsidising the poor. Individual plots are still surrounded by gardens and mature oak trees, and bounded by hedges for privacy. Each building is architecturally distinct, although the majority are arts and crafts in style, as each was overseen by a different architect.
Barnett and Unwin drew upon previous planned towns, such as New Earswick near York which was built by the Rowntree factory for its workers. However the scale and ethos of Hampstead Garden Suburb – and its very intention as a garden suburb – marked a significant moment in planned housing in Britain and foresaw many of the intentions of later modernist developments.
