Notting Hill Living
Kensington Park Road
The first wave of building was concentrated at the southern corner near Pembridge Road. Nos. 2 to 38 (even) were built by William Chadwick between 1847 and 1848. Nos. 32-38 were pairs of large stucco faced houses over four storeys. Nos. 2-30 were small brick houses in a terrace, with stucco architraves.
It was over a decade before construction began on the other side of the road, with Nos. 1-15 (odd) on the north side of the church, which were built by John Wicking Phillips, a Paddington builder, in 1861.
Further north, the land on the east of Kensington Park Road was owned by Thomas Pocock, one of the several solicitors who embarked on property development in the estate. He built the range of houses at Nos. 56-72 (opposite Kensington Park Gardens) and another house on the other side of the road at No. 74.
The next section of Kensington Park Road (from Kensington Park Gardens to Westbourne Grove) fell into the domain of Charles Blake and Nos. 76-90 were built in about 1859 by Philip Rainey, who had previously been Blake’s clerk of works. The houses were designed by Edward Habershon. (The next range, Nos. 92-112, by a different builder were later demolished.)
Further north Pocock was the landowner again. He had contractors build the houses for him, rather than entering into building agreements with independent builders, and in about 1853 he constructed Nos. 126-184 (between Westbourne Grove and Elgin Crescent).
