Ladbroke Estate

Characterized by terraces of stuccoed brick houses backing onto large private garden squares, much of the original building remains intact today, and now forms the heart of one of London's most expensive and fashionable neighbourhoods.

In the early 19th century, the Ladbroke family owned a number of substantial parcels of land in Kensington, then a largely suburban area.

He died childless, and around 1821 his land passed to his nephew James Weller, who assumed the name Ladbroke in order to be able to inherit.

The 1823 plan marks the genesis of Allason's most enduring idea — the creation of large private communal gardens enclosed by terraces and/or crescents of houses.

However, in 1837 the entrepreneur John Whyte leased 140 acres (0.57 km2) of land from the estate and proceeded to enclose "the slopes of Notting Hill and the meadows west of Westbourne Grove" with a 7-foot (2.1 m) high wooden paling.

[5] By this time, conditions for building had once again become favourable, and development resumed, crescents of stuccoed houses being built on Whyte's circular race track.