South Kensington
The Area
Those embarking on a South West London property search will be pleased to learn from their real estate buyers agent that South Kensington is one of London’s most affluent locations. Nearby Chelsea and Knightsbridge make South Kensington attractive to property buyers and property finders. Kensington Palace Gardens is often called Britain’s most expensive street, as Recoco property finders can attest.
As well as the red brick houses, mews houses, and sympathetically converted apartments and flats that your property buying agent may show you, your property search might include purpose built blocks of mansions. Recoco buying agents can help you discover just how green and pleasant this area is. A real estate buyers agent can present some exceptionally attractive stucco dwellings; Recoco buying agents will be happy to show you the most appealing villas.
A property buying agent will probably suggest that South Kensington incorporates Gloucester Road station and South Kensington. Your property finder can confirm Hyde Park is usually seen as the northern boundary; Brompton Road marks the southern edge. Buyers agents can also clarify that nearby Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, and Hyde Park increase the area’s desirability.
Transport
Ask your property buying agent about underground links – Circle, District, and Piccadilly all serve South Kensington. Or ask buyers agents about journey times to King’s Cross, Monument, Highbury or Islington (all under 20 minutes) or Heathrow (less than an hour via Piccadilly line). Need more routes? Your buyers agents will let you know that Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction journeys both take about 10 minutes.
Recoco property finders will also confirm robust road links, particularly to the west; South Kensington is on the A4, enabling M4 access in around 20 minutes. Need to know how far to the M25? The real estate buyers agent can inform you it’s around another 15 minutes. Several buses, including two night buses, also serve South Kensington.
History
History enthusiasts might ask their Recoco buying agents about the Domesday Book entry – although it wasn’t until the early 1600s that the locality became more defined. If your Recoco buying agent shows you South Kensington’s garden squares, the area’s agricultural past will be evident.
The area became less rural in the 1700s when roads improved. In 1851, after the highly successful Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, the area’s popularity was cemented, as your property finder can explain.
Education
Parents can choose from a huge range of schools, including voluntary aided schools, state schools, primary and secondary. French language school Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle offers primary and secondary level education, or ask Recoco property finders about the many nearby independent and prep schools. Your Recoco buying agent can outline details of Garden House School, Glendower Preparatory School, or Queen’s Gate.
Leisure and Events
South Kensington is known for culture, art and science, with many splendid institutions built after 1851, as your Recoco buying agent can tell you. These include Imperial College, the Science and Natural History Museums, and the Victoria and Albert. The area is also home to the Serpentine Galleries, Royal Geographic Society, Royal Albert Hall, and Kensington Palace.
Active local societies include the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, the London Goethe-Institut, and the Royal Colleges of Art and Music. The Institut Français offers French language films at the Ciné Lumière, while one of the rooms in the Drayton Arms functions as a fringe theatre. Seasonal events include the Natural History Museum’s outdoor ice rink.
For any property buyer needing a little retail therapy, High Street Kensington retail ranges from specialist organic food outlets to toy shops and bookstores. And keep fit enthusiasts will enjoy the range of yoga, Pilates studios, leisure centres and gym facilities on offer.
Celebrity Connections
To discover more about Kensington’s most famous residents, ask your property finder. Names may include Francis Bacon, social activist Charles Booth, and writer William Makepeace Thackeray. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also have a home in the area.
Foodies’ Corner
Whatever cuisine you enjoy, you’ll find it in South Kensington (or South Ken as it’s often called). Enjoy the atmosphere (and cheese!) at Obica mozzarella bar, or Vietnamese cuisine at Go-Viet. And this may allegedly be the only part of London that sells truly decent croissants (try Aux Merveilleux).
If you’re a property buyer with a sweet tooth, The Hummingbird Bakery specialises in cupcakes to literally sweeten your property search. Delicatessens, farmers’ markets, and fishmongers supply the best fresh produce, and you’ll find just about every national supermarket chain.
Fun Fact
Both Waterstones and Caffe Nero originate from here.