Kensington
Upper Phillimore Gardens
Big as the houses in Upper Phillimore Gardens are, they are almost dwarfed by the enormous trees which line the street, and in many cases almost live indoors. A beech tree outside No. 9 virtually occupies the front rooms. Particularly on the northern side, the houses are very large, and they have long gardens backing onto Duchess of Bedford Walk.
Considering the imposing impression they make, it’s a surprise to realise that generally the houses have no more than a basement, ground floor, and first and second floors, although there are dormer windows in some of the roofs. The size is the result of extremely high ceilings at each storey.
Houses are generally detached or semi-detached and are mainly in Italianate villa style, with stuccoed facades painted white.
External decoration is quite restrained - limited perhaps to a porch hood supported by volute brackets. Most houses have normal or canted bays from basement to first floor level. At second floor level, French doors open onto a balcony with stone balustrades formed by the roof of the bay structure below.
Upper Phillimore Gardens was built as part of the development of the Phillimore Estate.
Joseph Gordon Davis, who was the principal builder in Essex Villas, had the building leases on almost all the houses, north or south, although Jeremiah Little, Henry Burton, Thomas Allen and other builders were associated with him.
