Colville Gardens

[1] Colville Gardens was initially laid out in the 1870s by the builder George Frederick Tippett, who also developed much of the rest of the neighbourhood.

The houses were intended as single family homes for the well-to-do but, from the beginning, it proved difficult to attract wealthy buyers to the area and as early as 1888, the buildings began to be subdivided into flats.

He attributed his failure to "his inability to let a large portion of his property and to the pressure of secured creditors".

[2] The street continued to deteriorate in the 1960s and 1970s, along with the rest of Notting Hill, and the neighbourhood became notorious for the predatory business practices of slum landlord Peter Rachman.

However, from the 1980s onwards, the street gradually improved, reflecting the general revival of Notting Hill in recent years.