Living in Holland Park

Holland Park takes its name from the park at its centre, which is one of the most beautiful in London. It combines woodland, formal gardens, sports areas and adventure playgrounds with the Kyoto Garden, a Japanese garden with a waterfall and koi pond, peacocks that wander the paths, and the ruins of Holland House, where Opera Holland Park stages a summer season under a canopy.

The surrounding streets are among the grandest residential streets in the capital. Large detached and semi-detached Victorian villas line broad avenues, many divided into generous flats, and some are embassies or ambassadorial residences. Leighton House, the lavishly decorated home and studio of the Victorian painter Frederic Leighton, is now a museum on the southern side.

The neighbourhood is quiet, secure and very expensive. Holland Park Avenue has a small parade of upmarket shops, cafés and restaurants, and Kensington High Street, Notting Hill and Westfield in Shepherd's Bush are all a short walk or bus ride away for everything else. Nightlife is almost non-existent within the area itself.

Holland Park station, on the Central line, gets to Oxford Circus in roughly a quarter of an hour before carrying on to the City; Shepherd's Bush and Notting Hill Gate provide more options. The rental market is small and dominated by large flats and family houses, often let to families, professionals relocating to London and diplomats, with prices to match. Holland Park suits people who want a peaceful, green and elegant neighbourhood within easy reach of both the West End and west London, and who value the park itself above having a lively high street on their doorstep.