Property

Winding its way down from the traffic-choked Finchley Road, passing the junction with Abbey Road (the one immortalised on The Beatles’ album cover) to Kilburn High Road, West End Lane is one of the area’s oldest thoroughfares. Until the mid-nineteenth century it was lined with hedgerows and passed through the village of West End, now West Hampstead. These days, owing to the proliferation of restaurants, cafés, shops and housing, not to mention bikes, buses and cars, it’s difficult to imagine the scene 150 or so years ago when the lane was so serene that this was where Queen Victoria chose to take her country strolls.

After World War II the majority of the Victorian houses along West End Lane and surrounding streets were converted into cheap bedsits and flats, the low rents attracting artists and musicians. But even before that the area had been associated with creative types: Walter Sickert lived on Broadhurst Gardens; Joseph Randall-Tussaud (grandson of the famous Madame and a chief modeller at the waxworks) lived on Iverson Road and TS Eliot stayed for a short period during 1915-6 in Compayne Gardens.

Today the northern half of West End Lane is dominated by eateries. There are a few chains – Nando’s, Pizza Express and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, plus the ubiquitous Starbucks and Costa – but it’s the independent places that steal the show. At weekends the Wet Fish Café (a former fishmongers at No 242), Walnut (No 280), La Brocca (No 273) and J’s (No 218) buzz with chatter from twenty- to fortysomething-plus locals enjoying breakfast, brunch, a long lunch or dinner. Yet 15 years ago – before those with disposable incomes began moving in and renovating Victorian conversions – this area was somewhat down at heel.

A visitor would more likely have seen endless laundrettes rather than the independently run shops that reflect the village vibe of the area: the recommended West End Books (a rare non-chain bookseller at No 277), Alexis Bakery (No 272) opposite the listed 1901 fire station, the Cycle Surgery (No 275) and Flowerstalk florist (No 230). In the past year or so the opening of North-West Deli (No 333) and That Organic Place (No 35 Mill Lane) has meant local foodies needn’t trek to Finchley Road Waitrose to buy organic sourdough, marinated olives and other essentials. Although this isn’t a party area by any stretch of the imagination, new nightspot Ooolaalaa (No 291-293) has joined the well-established Gallery bar-restaurant on Broadhurst Gardens (No 190).

The popularity of West End Lane and its surrounding streets owes no small debt to its fantastic transport links – three train stations plus decent bus routes into town – and plans are afoot to create one gigantic station-cum-shopping complex. Property along the northernmost portion of West End Lane is, in the main, mansion flats and Victorian terraces (most of which were converted into flats in the ’60s and ’70s).

Housing stock, particularly on the roads leading off or parallel to West End Lane that are close to the amenities, is obviously the most popular; places along Honeybourne Road or Crediton Hill, for instance, have a high proportion of owner-occupiers and places tend to sell or get rented out quickly.

South of the train and tube stations, West End Lane has less of a villagey feel – largely because there are fewer shops. However, there is plenty of housing, which ranges from purpose-built postwar apartment blocks and mansion flats to large, detached Victorian houses, which, like the houses up the road, were converted into flats in the 1960s and ’70s. The conversion flats here are relatively large; there are plenty of well-proportioned three-bed flats along this southern stretch and the offshoot roads towards South Hampstead.

The area might have already up-and-come, but purchasing property here is a safe investment. There are excellent, fast transport links to the West End and Docklands, it’s in Zone 2, and for those who don’t want to lose out on proximity to town, this is a fantastic area in which to be based.

Estate agents
A selection of many, all on West End Lane:

Alexanders
(020 7431 0666/ www.jmalexanders.co.uk).
Dutch and Dutch
(020 7794 0075/ www.dutchndutch.co.uk).
Greene and Co
(020 7328 3232/ www.greene.co.uk).
Noé Glasman
(020 7431 7231/ www.noeglasman.com).
Paramount
(020 7372 2712/www.paramount-properties.co.uk).
Park Heath
(020 7794 7111/ www.parkheath.com).

Transport
West Hampstead (Jubilee Line) and Finchley Road (Jubilee and Metropolitan lines) are close by. There’s also the 139 bus to Waterloo (takes approx one hour) and 328 to Chelsea (takes approx half an hour).