From grimy industrial backwater to cosmopolitan melting pot, Notting Hill is an area with a talent for reinvention.
Home buyers love this neighbourhood for its grand crescents, the pretty garden squares made world-famous by the eponymous 1999 rom com starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, and its adorable streets of pastel-painted cottages.
Notting Hill is the perfect choice for buyers who want to live somewhere with a thriving café culture and loads to do and see, and is a hit with sociable families from all over the world.
When Victorian London was expanding Notting Hill was its engine room – its kiln workshops were kept busy making the bricks, pottery, and tiles needed to build its new suburbs were made from the heavy local clay soil.
In the early 19th century the Ladbroke family, Notting Hill’s major landowner, began laying out new streets and squares and building upscale family homes, which often came with access to large, private but also communal gardens.
In 1837 entrepreneur James Whyte decided that what west London really needed was a racecourse. He leased 140 acres of land from the Ladbroke Estate and laid out a track. Unfortunately the venture was not a hit and by 1842 the course was closed although the shape of the course can still be traced in Notting Hill’s series of crescents.
After the Second World War Notting Hill’s fortunes fell. Families struggled to employ staff after the war and nobody wanted large townhouses any more. Many homes were split up into flats, and the area became known for its cheap rentals and boarding houses.
Notting Hill in this era was a melting pot of emigres to London – and those from the Caribbean organised the first Notting Hill Carnival in 1966.
Gentrification began in the 1980s as buyers priced out of other parts of prime central London rediscovered Notting Hill. Simultaneously a disproportionate number of great restaurants, cafes, and bars began popping up. Notting Hill’s reputation as the fun side of Prime Central London, with a real sense of community and a character all its own, was born.
A destination in its own right Notting Hill is a very different proposition to elegant, but primarily residential districts like Holland Park or Belgravia.
If you crave the quiet life it might not be right for you, but Notting Hill is perfect for those who want to live right in the thick of things – particularly in August when the steel drums of the Notting Hill Carnival begin to beat.
It has great bars and restaurants on every street corner and catering to every taste – from the three Michelin star Core by Clare Smyth to the Secret Sandwich Shop, where you can pick up beautifully presented Japanese sandwiches.
Although its reputation is very much linked to its nightlife and shopping, Notting Hill is also surprisingly family friendly. Its lovely large houses have roomy back gardens, and there are fantastic schools for all ages. And its buyers include a fairly equal mix of British and international families.
A street market guarantees to give a neighbourhood a bit of buzz and Portobello Road is one of London’s biggest and best. Trawl for antique treasures or vintage and modern, fashion, stock up on fruit and flowers, and dine on street food, in one of the most vibrant street scenes the British capital has to offer. If Portobello feels too hectic, then locals head over to the more peaceful Golborne Road, with its antique stores and stalls, and great local cafes.
Built in 1911, the Electric Cinema is one of London’s oldest movie theatres. Now owned by the Soho House Group its screening room is super comfortable, and there is also a restaurant and private members club on site.
The Museum of Brands is one of London’s smallest and most eccentric museums, devoted to advertising from the Victorian era to today.
Over August’s bank holiday weekend Notting Hill erupts with 72 hours of music, colour and fun. Around three million people attend the Notting Hill Carnival – Europe’s largest street festival – to celebrate Caribbean arts, heritage and culture.
The annual Portobello Film Festival is a chance to see an incredible range of work by new film makers. It premiers more than 700 films each year.
Leighton House is a museum and art gallery housed in the former home of Victorian painter Frederic Leighton. Join the Friends of Leighton House and expect exhibition and concert previews, plus invitations to its annual dinner and summer garden party.
Within the hierarchy of top streets in Notting Hill homes on garden squares or with access to private gardens lead the way.
Black Brick were recently engaged by American clients who were returning to live in London and wanted to come “home” to Notting Hill. They already knew the area well enough to have a shortlist of specific streets. They particularly wanted to live somewhere with access to a communal garden.
This kind of property doesn’t come onto the market very often, and when one does demand is high. We knew our best option would be to find a house before it came onto the market, and were made aware of a great house on Kensington Park Gardens which came with a key to the seven acres of Ladbroke Square.
To secure the property we advised our clients to snap it up at the £21.5m asking price: Following a full refurbishment we have received unsolicited offers for the house – even though it is not for sale – for in excess of £30m: https://www.black-brick.com/expertise/case-studies/kensington-park-gardens/
Notting Hill townhouses lend themselves well to being converted into apartments. A couple who had relocated to London for work engaged Black Brick to find them a two bedroom property. Our choice for them was a second floor apartment on the brilliantly-located Pembridge Crescent. Even with another buyer attempting to outbid us we were able to secure the property for £1.795m: https://www.black-brick.com/expertise/case-studies/pembridge-crescent/
If you want a home on Ladbroke Square, Kensington Park Road, Lansdowne Road; Clarendon Road, or one of Notting Hill’s iconic crescents you are going to face competition from other buyers. Owners tend to stay put in these sought after streets long term, and that means that homes rarely come onto the market. When they do, they are often sold discreetly, off market, which means that you will need insider information just to know what your options are.
Black Brick’s enviable contacts mean that we can find unfindable properties on your behalf, and get you in before other buyers. This is invaluable in a market where best in class homes are still breaking price records.
We can also negotiate on your behalf, advise you on prices, and guide you through the sales process from start to finish. Even once you have bought your new home our assistance doesn’t stop. We also help our buyers find the right architects and interior designers to put the finishing touches to their new homes.
According to research from Savills you can buy a Notting Hill address from £550,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. But the average price for prime properties in Notting Hill is £4.3 million. Best-in-class homes such as those in Artesian Village, a sought after enclave north of Westbourne Grove, fetch in the region of £3.5 million to £7 million. Homes on garden squares are priced at £8 million plus.
Over the 25 years since Notting Hill the movie hit our screens house prices have increased by 264.3 per cent.
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