This neighbourhood borders Bayswater, which is located to the east. The building stock of the area tends to be comprised of white, Victorian stucco terraces, which have today tended to be subdivided into flats and boarding houses. There are also apartments blocks from the interwar period, some featuring well-designed art deco styles. The area does have numerous restaurants, particularly on Queensway and Bishops Bridge Road. The terraces of the area are built around a few rectangular garden squares, such as Leinster and Prince’s Square, which are open to the public. There is a large Greek community in the area, with The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Divine Wisdom, or St. Sophia’s Cathedral being located at the centre of the postcode sector on Moscow Road, surrounded by many Greek shops and restaurants.

Whiteleys, a department store in the area, takes its name from its entrepreneur, William Whiteley, who opened a ‘Fancy Goods’ shop in Westbourne Grove in 1863. Future department stores and supermarkets in that time were beginning to crop up, such as Harrods and Sainsbury’s. His enterprise grew over the years, and by 1890 more than 6000 staff were employed by his business, though the grand colonnaded building which exists today would only be completed in 1935, built by his two sons after his death in 1907.

Contrary to its almost-abandoned nature today, it was one of London’s finest department stores – Eliza Doolittle of Shaw’s Pygmalion, after all, had her wardrobe change at Whiteleys, as opposed to the now more prestigious Harrods or Selfridges. Over the years, however, the customer base moved to places such as Westfields, and the store has been watered down with offices, or, in parts, simply left vacant.

Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, lived on 1 Orme Square from 1839 to 1842. He was a teacher, an inventor and a social reformer, and notably campaigned for a reform of the postal system, in particular prepaying for letters (rather than the receiver paying for them). This, of course, necessitated the invention of the postage stamp, and later the first adhesive stamp in the world, the Penny Black. He would later form a society with notable people such as Edwin Chadwick, John Stuart Mill and Lyon Playfair called “Friends in Council”, as well as become a member of the Political Economy Club founded by David Ricardo.

The area is generally quiet, though the area can get a little rowdy at times, particularly on weekends, though the residential areas are generally exempt from this. The Notting Hill Carnival, however, is a notable exception, with revellers from the carnival nearby (not in the area itself) spilling out into Bayswater.

Whiteleys department store, a long standing institution on Queensway, is to be redeveloped into a mixed-use building, including 139 high specification residences, residential units, 20 new shops and restaurants, a cinema, a large-scale gym, and a Six Senses hotel and spa - the first in Britain - with 110 rooms, as well as its social wellness club. In addition to other public realm improvements, the £1 billion overhaul of the department store is set to be completed in 2023.