Kensington
Stanford Road
Stanford Road runs south from St Albans Grove and it is a very attractive and quiet backwater, with large family houses on both sides of the road. Many of the houses are half-stuccoed, with brick above first floor level, and have small front gardens.
There is a large 1930s style block of flats called Cottesmore Court, is a large seven storey building which nonetheless blend well into the local surroundings.
The southern end of Stanford Road is a cul-de-sac but it has a small, hidden footpath leading into Cornwall Gardens.
Stanford Road was part of the Vallotton Estate. Stanford Road is the end of several other roads, so there were no runs of terraces on the east side which was mainly taken up with the end houses of other streets. On the west side, George Smith Stredder built fifteen houses, which were a mixture of detached and semi-detached, known as Stanford Villas. They had bare brick façades and the decoration was provided by diamond quoins and pronounced friezes.
Some of the property in Stanford Street was taken over by the railway company when it built the Metropolitan and District Railway in the 1860’s. When they had covered over the tunnel, they returned the land and Thomas Hussey built Nos. 36-54 (even). The houses are linked by a cornice above the ground floor bay windows, and also below the roof parapet.
The stretch of road from Kelso Place to St Albans Grove was developed from 1859 onwards. Several houses were built by George Andrew Mosse, an engraver.
Cottesmore Court replaced several of the houses on the north corner of Stanford Road and Kelso Place in 1935-6. It was built in by Mowlems and designed by Gerald Unsworth. Stanford Court replaced Nos. 9-15 (odd) Stanford Road in 1932.
