Chard Estate Agents - Holland Park area guide

Holland Park, W11

The area known as Holland Park is not an exact location but encompasses many fine streets around the actual park, such as Abbotsbury Road, Addison Avenue, Holland Park Road, Ilchester Place, Norland Place, Princes Place, Queensdale Place, St Ann’s Villas, St James’s Gardens, Upper Addison Gardens and Woodsford Square.

There are many wide tree-lined streets, impossibly large and grand houses – many divided into flats – and smart, well-appointed mansion blocks.  Most of the streets are exclusively residential and Victorian, Edwardian or pre-war. There is little new-build in the area, although some houses and apartment blocks were built in the 1960s and later. The houses in Abbotsbury Road, for instance, have off-street parking, front and rear gardens and many have fine views over Holland Park.

Oakwood Court is a complex of 7-storey redbrick Victorian mansion blocks surrounded by lawns. There is also a small garden of trees and shrubs in the middle of the street. Many of the flats in the Court are extremely large and many have four bedrooms, making this location ideal for families as well as singles and young professionals.

Holland Park itself is huge and has a reputation as being one of the most romantic parks in all London. The park, surrounding the Jacobean Holland House, has formal gardens and a lovely wild wooded area as well as children’s adventure playgrounds. Attractions include the Kyoto Japanese Garden, rose gardens, woodland, a wildlife pond and ecology centre. Visitors to the park can see tame rabbits, squirrels and peacocks. In the summer, the open-air Holland Park opera is popular and tickets often have to be booked months in advance.  Admission to the park is free, but there is a charge for some of the exhibitions.

The area takes its name from a local aristocrat, Henry, Earl of Holland and during the 19th century, Holland House was a centre of political intrigue. Like much of the surrounding area, the House suffered extensive bomb damage during World War 2 and now only the ground floor and arcades are left. There is a youth hostel there now and a contemporary restaurant, The Belvedere, which has an international reputation. Art and other travelling exhibitions are held at the orangery and ice house, and the Park has become a favourite tourist attraction. 

The whole area, strange though it may seem now, was rural until the 19th century, when grand, comfortable houses began to be built for the upper middle classes. In more recent times, Holland Park has gone even more upmarket and is now very expensive and extremely desirable, one of the most expensive residential areas in London with many houses in the £10 million-plus bracket. However, it is possible to have a Holland Park address without spending that kind of money, as there are also one- and two-bedroom flats on offer, mainly in conversions.

Although Holland Park itself is almost exclusively residential, wonderful shops, restaurants, wine bars and supermarkets are not far away, and line Holland Park Avenue and Notting Hill Gate, both of which are in easy walking distance. Julies Restaurant on Portland Road (the area known as Clarendon Cross) is one of W11’s most established eateries offering a reliable menu of British favourites. Lidgates the family butcher offers excellent organic produce and is renowned for their sausages!

The enormous new shopping complex of Westfield, in White City (opening Oct 2008) is also in walking distance. The Gate and Coronet Cinemas are about 5 minutes’ walk away as is the very exclusive shopping enclave of Clarendon Cross.