Living in Chiswick

Chiswick is one of west London's most affluent and attractive neighbourhoods, built along Chiswick High Road, a long street of independent shops, cafés, restaurants, pubs and delis. It feels settled and family-oriented, with good schools, well-kept streets and a strong community atmosphere.

Its history and green spaces are highlights. Chiswick House, an eighteenth-century Palladian villa, sits in large landscaped gardens, and Hogarth's House, the country home of the painter William Hogarth, is nearby. Along the Thames, Chiswick Mall and Strand-on-the-Green are lined with elegant houses and riverside pubs, and Bedford Park, one of the earliest garden suburbs, has distinctive red-brick houses by Richard Norman Shaw. Gunnersbury Park, Turnham Green and Chiswick Common add green space.

Turnham Green and Chiswick Park stations are on the District line, which runs to Hammersmith, Earl's Court and central London; the Piccadilly line passes through Turnham Green but stops there only early in the morning and late at night. Gunnersbury has the District line and Overground, and Chiswick station, on the Hounslow loop, runs to Waterloo. Getting to the City or anywhere east takes a while. The Hogarth Roundabout and the elevated M4 and A4 carry heavy traffic, and aircraft approaching Heathrow pass overhead.

Housing includes Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis, riverside houses, mansion blocks and newer apartments near Chiswick Business Park. Rents are high but generally below Kensington or Chelsea. Chiswick suits families and professionals who want a village-like west London neighbourhood with the river, parks and independent shops close by, and whose work is in west London, Hammersmith or the West End.