Stafford Terrace is situated in the heart of Kensington, a short walk from Holland Park and Kensington High Street. Constructed from 1868, Chesterton Humberts currently have two properties available for sale in this grand Victorian street. Stafford Terrace is most renowned as the home of Punch illustrator, Edward Linley Sambourne at No.18.
Stafford Terrace is part of the Phillimore estate, which was acquired in the early 18th century, although it can be traced back to 1612, when it was part of the large Campden House estate, owned by merchant Baptist Hicks. It is rumoured Hicks won the estate in a card game from neighbouring landowner Sir Walter Cope of Holland House.
By 1741, a portion of the Campden House estate had passed to Robert Phillimore and from that time it was known as The Phillimore Estate and covered almost 65 acres of Kensington. Very little building took place during the 18th and early 19th centuries. At this time, the land-agent responsible for the Phillimore Estate was Charles Chesterton (the founder of Chesterton estate agents).
It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that then owner, William Phillimore oversaw the development of his Kensington estate. It is understood that Charles Chesterton’s son, Arthur was directly involved in the layout and planning of the estate, including Campden Hill Road, Phillimore Gardens and Stafford Terrace.
Stafford Terrace was the last of the streets to be completed. In 1868, building leases were granted to builder, Joseph Gordon Davis, who was responsible for large portions of building across the Phillimore Estate during the mid-Victorian period. Davis completed all the houses in Stafford Terrace and records show that all the houses were occupied by 1874, the same year that No.18 was taken by artist and illustrator, Edward Linley Sambourne and his family. Today, the Linley Sambourne house is a museum of Victorian interior design, having changed very little from when the house was occupied by the Sambourne family in the late 19th century.
The 1911 census shows that 100 years ago, one of the houses for sale was the home of Irish born ‘Rich Aiseley Blak Lane’, a 68 year-old gentleman of no occupation, who had recently married 48 year old Ann Elizabeth. The couple were living in the 11 room house with one domestic servant at the time of the census. The other house was occupied by 46 year old barrister-at-law, Thomas Howell, and his wife Edith, along with their two sons, James and John. The house also consisted of 11 rooms and the Howell family had four domestic servants.
Chesterton Humberts have two properties available in Stafford Terrace – For more details:
6 bedroom House, Stafford Terrace, Kensington,
3 bedroom Flat, Stafford Terrace, Kensington
* For more on the history of Stafford Terrace go to – The House Historian
