Upon completion an exhibition was organised to showcase the dwellings for prospective buyers and a competition was held to find the best building, with a first prize of £250 and a gold medal being awarded to the winning architect.

One hundred architects and urban planners took part in the Gidea Park development, including William Curtis Green, Philip Tilden, Raymond Unwin, Richard Barry Parker, George Val Myer, Geoffry Lucas and Baillie Scott.

The winner of the 1934 competition, 64 Heath Drive, by Francis Skinner, a founding member of Berthold Lubetkin's Tecton Group, was also listed at Grade II in 1997.

Upon the Restoration in 1660, the estate was bought back by the Crown and passed through the ownerships of various nobilities; it was eventually sold through public auction, before the Coronation of Queen Victoria.

[4] Gidea Hall sold to the Black family in 1802 under whose ownership it remained until 1883 when it was bought for redevelopment by a company that was associated with Jabez Balfour.

[10] Barnett had set up the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust Ltd and appointed Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin as its chief architects.

Raphael decided to capitalise on the success seen at Hampstead[8] and other garden suburbs, such as at Ealing, Tottenham and Tooting, and set about organising an his own exhibition at Gidea Park.

Building for the new suburb started in 1909 when Raphael commissioned the construction of a new railway station which he intended to assist with accessibility for prospective buyers at the Exhibition.

[22] By the late spring of 1911 the project was complete, and featured 140, fully furnished houses and small cottages, in the Arts and Crafts style.

A number of important people were asked for their opinion on what made the perfect house and how modern day living could be improved, including Thomas Hardy,[27] Sir Edward Poynter,[29] Millicent Fawcett[30] and Arnold Bennett.

Some of the dwellings were furnished by the architect, and others by leading companies of the day, including Heal & Son who were based in Tottenham Court Road.

[32] Upon completion, a competition was held in the summer of 1911 to find the best building, an event that was witnessed by Raphael, Walters, McCurdy, and Sir Frederick Treves, among others.

[33] The judges, Guy Dawber, Henry Vaughan Lanchester and Mervyn Macartney, gave the best detached houses a Class I status, which would allow the property to be sold for £500.

[34] A sales office was opened at 75 Main Road, opposite Balgores Lane, in 1913 to cope with purchase enquiries and viewings.

A request was made by the committee in the building press for architects to take part in the exhibition which would give them the chance to showcase their talents.

Others included Robert van 't Hoff, Philip Tilden, Norman Jewson, and Raymond Unwin and Richard Barry Parker,[40] who were both instrumental in the design of the garden suburb at Hampstead.

On 14 September 1979, 16[42] and 27[43] Meadway; 36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk;[44] and 43, Heath Drive,[45] were added to the national register of protected buildings.

[47] The directors of the Gidea Hall Development Company agreed to pay the conveyancing costs, including the tax, and a Deed of Conveyance certificate was given to the purchaser on completion.

[47] A second competition, separate from the first, was held in Romford Garden Suburb between 31 July and 20 August 1934 and was called the Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition.