Notting Hill Living
Ladbroke Grove
Building work in Ladbroke Grove began at the south end, near Holland Park Avenue, at a much earlier stage than most of the work on the estate and then gradually progressed northwards.
The first houses to be built were Nos. 11-19 (odd) on the west side, below Ladbroke Road. John Drew, a builder from Pimlico, took the lease from J W Ladbroke in 1833. In 1838, Drew subleased Nos. 11-15 to William Drew, to whom he was related, and R Charsley.
The next bit to be built was Nos. 14-32 (even) on the east side, just above Ladbroke Road, which were built by J R Butler, a builder, in conjunction with George Buckle, a City architect.
For Nos. 21-35, the terrace opposite, the building agreement in 1839 was between J W Ladbroke and W J Drew, but Drew subleased the plots of Nos. 25-35 to Francis Read, a Pimlico builder, and Ladbroke granted the leases to him. The houses in this terrace are in Drew’s characteristic style. The houses are in pairs and the main part of the building is stucco-fronted and four windows wide (two for each house) separated by pilasters running from the ground floor to the roof line and apparently supporting the strong entablature above the first floor windows and a balustrade at the top of the house. The effect is dramatic but the plain flat pilasters are “stage” pilasters, little more than plaster strips, for decorative effect. The entrance doors are in separate low structures in between the main buildings. The porticos of the houses were added later: Nos. 25-33 in 1857 and Nos. 31-35 in 1861.
Ladbroke Grove houses begin again as it runs through the crescents, north of the church. Nos. 36-40 were in part of the estate owned by Charles Blake, and they were built in 1853, rather later than their neighbours, by David Ramsay, to designs by Thomas Allom . He went bankrupt before the houses were completed and they were finished by Philip Rainey, Blake’s clerk of works.
Nos. 42-58, in the centre of the crescents, were on Ladbroke land. Nos. 42-50 were taken by Wiliam Parkin, a solicitor, in 1843, but he seems to have failed. Ladbroke let them again in 1845, this time to John Brown, a builder of St Marylebone. He also leased Nos. 52-58 to him. Nos. 60-64 were built by Henry Malcolm Ramsay in 1854 and Nos. 66-68 were built by the Paddington builder, John Wicking Phillips, in 1858-61.
On the other side of Ladbroke Grove, No. 63 was built in 1844 by Joshua Higgs and Son, builders from Berkeley Square, on a large plot of land on the corner of Lansdowne Crescent. Ladbroke had agreed to let to Richard Roy who subleased it to Higgs.
Nos. 67-75 (odd) are right in the centre of the crescent, on the west side. They were built in 1841-2 on land then still owned by the solicitor, John Duncan.
No. 83 was a single small plot on the corner with Arundel Gardens and a house was built there in 1852 by Kenelm Chandler, a builder. No. 87 is equally an isolated plot just above Elgin Crescent, and the house there was built by Edwin Ware, the Paddington builder, in 1862.
Nos. 91 and 93, just below Blenheim Crescent, were built by Richard Crowley in 1863 on land owned by Charles Chambers, a timber merchant. Nos. 78-94 were built opposite them, on the east side. They are believed to have been designed by the architect, Edward Habershon.
There is then a relatively long range of houses between Blenheim Crescent and Westbourne Park Road, comprising Nos. 95-119. This was land owned by C H Blake and it was George Drew, an architect, who agreed to build the houses in 1864. He seems to have built Nos. 95-109, but C A Daw, builders, probably built Nos. 111-119 because Drew arranged for Blake to grant the lease of those houses direct to them.
There is a short range, Nos. 121-129, between Westbourne Park Road and Ladbroke Crescent which were built by G and T Goodwin in 1863.
Nos. 98-104, between Westbourne Park Road and Ladbroke Crescent, were built by Edmund and Elias Cordery, builders from Bayswater, in 1860.
