* “Baron’s Court”-London W14 – & its historic “St. Paul’s Studios” houses.

Last week my London Shoes ventured off to the west side of London to check out a row of 8 late Victorian residential houses, that were originally built for a specific purpose and are quite unique in their design…..each has a story to tell, and more importantly, all are still standing. This little row of unusual houses is known as “St. Paul’s Studios”.

This row of houses are located in a place called “Barons Court” a compact little residential area next door to the better known Earls Court, and just off the constantly busy “Talgarth Road” a designated part of the A4 that runs through west London and ends at Hammersmith Flyover before the A4 then heads off to Heathrow Airport.

Barons Court used to be a market garden area of London until 1874 onwards when residential houses started to be built on the land.

The is no historical evidence of any ‘Barons’ having lived there, and it is most likely named after its near neighbour Earls Court – so as o keep the same theme going.

The Barons Court district only comprises of just a few streets, but some of its houses are fantastic examples of late Victorian gothic design and style.

Apart from the “St. Paul’s Studios” row of houses , one of the other interesting historic landmark is the Barons Court- tube station – it really is like stepping back in time.

Baron Court station was opened in 1905, to serve the new residential houses that had been built in the surrounding streets – although the train line had been running through Barons Court for 30 years.

The tube station was originally part of what was then the ‘District Railway’ – but today it is served by both the ‘District Line’ (the green one on a standard London Underground map) and the ‘Piccadilly Line’ (the royal blue one of the map).

The Barons Court Station building and a lot of its platforms fixtures & fittings are the original features, that have been brilliantly maintained and preserved – particularly its external terracotta brick work and art nouveau lettering – and particularly the eye catching green tiling throughout the ticket office area – and its ornate ironworks and trimmings. Because of the quality of its historic fixtures, Barons Court Station has (quite rightly) been given Grade II Listed status – so that it can continue to be preserved for future generations to appreciate.

Just a couple of hundred yards down from the station, is the famous “Queens Club” tennis venue.

Those that follow tennis, will be aware that a lot of the top tennis pro’s compete in a tournament at ‘Queens’ a couple of weeks prior to Wimbledon.

The Queens Club was established way back in 1886 as a private club, when it held the distinction of being the world’s first multi-purpose sports complex.

It is the centre for Tennis – Real Tennis – Racquets and Squash – and boasts some of the finest courts in the world.

Really strange to see such a prestigious place stuck away in the middle of a residential housing area – and although they wouldn’t let me through the security gates to have a closer mooch around – it was quite evident that it has a lovely little ‘vibe’ going for it.

As said in the opening paragraph – the main reason the Shoes’ headed off out to Barons Court, was to track down this unique row of residential houses known commonly as “St. Paul’s Studios”.

This row of 8 houses are located just round the corner, just a few yards away from Barons Court tube station – on the ridiculously busy ‘Talgarth Road’, that forms part of the A4 road that leads on out to Heathrow Airport.

These bespoke houses date back to 1891, and were designed by a Frederick Wheeler.

They were designed specifically for ‘bachelor’ (eg unmarried) artists.

They had/have massive north facing windows, so that as much natural light as possible.

Each of the 8 houses had basement apartments for a live-in house keeper.

They are a classic example of late Victorian architecture with features such as terracotta brickwork – ornate ironwork – big old chimneys plus loads of other little design flourishes.

All 8 of the houses were occupied by artists with 1 year of being built.

Some of the more well-known artists who lived in and worked from these houses are:-

Ruby Levick (1871-1940) – a Welsh sculptor, who exhibited her work all over the UK and Europe.

William Logsdail  – who lived at St. Paul’s Studios from 1903 to 1922. One of Logsdail’s epic paintings “The Lord Mayors Show” now hangs in the Guildhall Art Gallery.

George Kruger Gray (1880-1943) – designed ‘fake’ WW1 military items to confuse the enemy. He was also employed by the Royal Mint to design coins.

Inglis Sheldon Williams (1870 – 1940) – has a number of his sketches displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.

Its fair to say that some of this row of old houses have seen better days – but most are still unique in their design, both outside and inside – and those that have been restored and done-up are certainly worth a few bob on the housing market (as a couple of photos I’ve shared from estate agent websites will show).

So – all in all, an interesting little trek out and the St. Paul’s Studios certainly fit the London Shoes criteria of being part of London’s lesser known, and more unusual history – its just a shame that they are stuck away in the middle of one of London’s busiest roads.

Anyway – I hope you enjoy the photos taken to support this piece.

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See below, the full gallery of photos taken to support this blog