While these two neighbourhoods are immediately next door to each other, they are quite distinctive although both have something to offer everyone from families to single professionals. Notting Hill, with its painted houses and elegant squares has always had a vibrant cultural vibe and in part the area became famous for its starring role in the film, ‘Notting Hill’ starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Today it is a highly desirable and trendy area to live with beautiful stucco-fronted garden squares and colourful rows of houses including Portobello Road, famous for its antiques market and specialist food shops, By contrast, Holland Park, just to the west, is a rather quieter area. with grand Grade 2* terraces typified by Royal Crescent and Holland Park itself with some of the largest villas and private gardens to be found in central London.
During the week, Portobello Road is home to a wonderful string of coffee shops filled with relaxed residents. Westbourne Grove provides brilliant boutique shopping and to the south, Kensington Gardens offers a large green space and the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.
Notting Hill and Holland Park were developed as part of the westward suburban expansion following Bayswater. The development was primarily commissioned by the Ladbroke Family in the 1820’s who used Thomas Allason as their architect. The style of many of Allason’s garden squares are unique in that the houses actually back onto large communal gardens making the areas unusually green and attractive. They became popular with the affluent wealthy inner city middle classes who wanted cleaner air and more space. Following a period of decline in popularity in the mid 20th Century due to the cost of maintaining these large houses, the area underwent a renaissance in the late 20th Century to become one of London’s most fashionable and pleasant places to live. Through the centuries a plethora of famous creatives have lived in Notting Hill and Holland Park and in the Victorian period Holland Park became the home of the Holland Park Circle, a group of artists including Frederic Leighton, whose house is now open to the public.
Notting Hill (District, Circle and Central Line)
Holland Park (Central Line)
The Ledbury
E&O
Ottolenghi
Osteria Basilica
Marianne
The Electric
Core by Clare Smyth
Belvedere Holland Park
Pembridge Hall
Norland Place School
Wetherby Prepatory School
Chepstow House
Coleville Primary School
Wetherby House
The Westbourne
The Cow
Trailer Happiness
The Elgin
The Ladbroke Arms
Beach Blanket Babylon
Bodyism
Body Work West
The Life Centre
Gym Class
Holland Park Pilates
Scandinavian Fitness
