Sitting between two of London’s most famous areas of greenery, Holland Park and Hyde Park, this neighbourhood is quite simply a slice of the good life. Most of the tall townhouses varying from Victorian to Georgian are split up into pleasant flats, but a few have been maintained in full for the lucky (and incredibly wealthy) few. Despite being sandwiched by the key shopping arteries of Kensington High Street and Holland Park Avenue, the area is tucked away just enough from swathes of tourists to give it a real peaceful west London residential feel.

The history of the area starts, like much of the rest of London, with Anglo-Saxon origins. But ever since the 17th century, it was a swanky neighbourhood and leafy recreational area for “persons with quality and note”. Nevertheless, the real turning point for the transformation of the locale was 1851, when Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry of All Nations. The event was a huge success and firmly established this part of town as a high-class, cultural hub. A few decades later, and the neighbourhood’s reputation was solidified as a luxury residential area as large terraced houses, villas and garden squares were built with modern amenities.

Sir Edward Henry, Metropolitan Police Commissioner and pioneer of fingerprint identification, lived at 19 Sheffield Terrace. By using fingerprints for recording illiterate contractors, he changed the police investigation game. Interestingly, he was once nearly assassinated whilst living on Sheffield Terrace. Alfred Bowles, who was bitter about a rejected request for a cab license, once tried to kill him in 1902 – luckily, he survived and lived until 1931.

Sadly, there are some downsides to living next door to the rich and famous in one of London’s most coveted postcodes. Unsurprisingly, these luxuries don’t come cheap. Additionally, an issue for those that live closer to the main roads of Kensington High Street and Holland Park Avenue is traffic congestion and the noise and air pollution that comes with it.

Transport for London’s cycle superhighways plan was aimed to address the issues of traffic-related pollution in the city and congestion, by enocuraging alternative mobility. But the segment of the plan that was meant to cut through Kensington High Street was refused by the local council and the project was scrapped.

However, there seems to be little sign of any large-scale developments for the time being, due to the protection of parts of the neighbourhood as conservation areas. This is also heightened by the fact that many of the buildings are listed. Nevertheless, the odd renovation of private properties does get the neighbours squabbling from time to time.

For those who rather enjoy a more active high street atmosphere, some exciting changes should be expected. in 2022, Kensington High Street was selected by the borough council as a business improvement district (BID), which would secure £5 million worth of investment over the next five years to support the high street’s economic recovery following the pandemic.