Gated community in North London. That’s what Holly Lodge Estate is. It offers an interesting story. This estate stands on the grounds of a villa. Sir Henry Tempest built that villa in 1798. The villa was on Highgate’s south-facing slopes.
Let’s step back in time. The estate included Traitor’s Hill. People thought Gunpowder Plot members met there. They supposedly watched for the Palace of Westminster to blow up. That rumour is now known to be false.
The villa became known as The Holly Lodge. In 1809, a young actress named Harriot Mellon leased the property. She married banker Thomas Coutts in 1815. She bought adjacent properties, enlarging the house and grounds. John Buonarotti Papworth landscaped the grounds in 1825.
Harriot Mellon died in 1837. She left the house and fortune to her step-granddaughter. That was Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts.
Between 1849 and 1906, Holly Lodge became world-famous. It was the rural retreat of Angela Burdett-Coutts. Grand galas and festivities occurred there. Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens were regular visitors.
Angela Burdett-Coutts married late in life. After her death, her husband put the property on the market. It failed to sell, being four miles from the City. In 1907, it was divided into lots and put on the market again. It still failed to sell.
Not until 1922, after her husband’s death, did outlying parts sell. South Grove House and Holly Terrace went to the North. Brookfield Stud went to the south. In March 1923, the remaining portion sold for £45,000. It was always known as the Holly Lodge Estate from then on.
London Garden Suburbs Limited bought it for the same price. Construction began on Bromwich Avenue that year. The Central London Building Company Limited built it. The former lodge was demolished during construction. Only a plaque remains from the north wall at the gardens’ entrance.
The initial plan was to build houses across the entire estate. Slow sales and drainage needs changed those plans. Lady Workers’ Homes Limited acquired land east of the central road. They built blocks of rooms for single women. These women moved to London to work as secretaries and clerks. The local alderman is commemorated on the ornamental pond.
Holly Lodge Estate is now a conservation area. It has undergone regeneration. Built as an early gated community, it has two main access roads. The upper road closes nightly. The lower road closes randomly. This maintains the estate’s private status.
Ownership of the mansion blocks transferred several times. By the early 1960s, Peachey Properties owned them. Many blocks were in disrepair. The Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras took over on a 150-year lease in 1964. It then went to the London Borough of Camden. Camden looks after the mansion blocks and gardens. The Holly Lodge Estate Committee manages the rest.
The mansion blocks on Makepeace Avenue and Oakeshott Avenue lacked kitchens. A community block was built at 30 Makepeace Avenue. It included a restaurant, reading rooms, and a small theatre. There were also tennis courts. By the late 1950s, this block declined. Camden demolished it. They built a new building with 25 flats for the elderly. A small community centre serves the estate now.
For many years, Camden only placed women on the estate. That policy has since lapsed.
Langbourne Mansions was built first. It provided 88 self-contained flats. The mansion blocks on Makepeace Avenue and Oakeshott Avenue were designed as bed-sitting rooms. Only three flats had their own bathrooms. The rest shared facilities.
The mansion blocks appear as “Tudor Cliffs”. They are four or five stories high. Timber details, gable roofs, and red tiles unite them. The rear elevations are in a different, minimal style. They reflect the modern design of the 1920s.
Originally, there were no gates. Residents petitioned for gates to protect their privacy. The then-Mayor tried to prevent the gates. But the London Building Co installed them overnight. Permission was eventually granted for the gates to remain.
The trees on the estate fall into three groups. There are the trees on the Burdett-Coutts Estate. There are the trees planted when the estate was developed in 1927. Finally, there are the trees planted on the east side against the cemetery wall.
The Holly Lodge Estate remains a unique community. It offers a glimpse into the past. Its charming houses and gardens provide a great place to live.