It’s impossible to think of Parsons Green without Sloane Rangers springing to mind. After all, it’s just down the road from Chelsea and a local pub, The White Horse, is known as the Sloaney Pony on account of the posh types that drink there.
Many of the cast of Made In Chelsea have been spotted in the area at some point, and pinstripe shirts far outnumber baseball caps. Parsons Green is actually part of Fulham, rather than Chelsea, and lies between Fulham Road and New Kings Road.
With great bars and restaurants, bijou stores and a Sunday farmers’ market, it manages to squeeze a lot into its relatively compact area. It has the ambience of a smart village in the heart of London. On a late Sunday morning, you’re just as likely to see families sipping lattes and baby-cinos outside cafes as you are to find Hooray Henrys trying to cure hangovers with Bloody Marys.
Even the chains are upmarket – there’s a Little Waitrose, Space NK and Cote Brasserie, plus a healthy cluster of independents. Gourmet food shop Bayley & Sage stocks more than 130 cheeses and makes amazing sandwiches while Amuse Bouche is a lively Champagne bar with friendly restaurant Claude’s Kitchen above.
The area is particularly big on interiors shops – Oka for classic furniture, The French House for vintage, and there’s antiques, lighting and fabrics on Wandsworth Bridge Road and the eastern end of New Kings Road. It’s also home to the Andrew Robson Bridge Club, one of the best places to learn and play the game, in a relaxed environment.
Unlike some London villages, public transport is good. Parsons Green station is on the District line (Zone 2, annual Travelcard into Zone 1 costs £1,216) and has several bus routes into the West End, via Sloane Square and Knightsbridge. And there’s much excitement at the imminent arrival of the Boris Bikes. Two stretches of green space enhance the villagey atmosphere.
Parsons Green itself was named after a parsonage that had stood on the site since the end of the 14th century, demolished in 1882. A pond on the green was filled during the 19th century when the natural spring was destroyed during drainage construction. Eel Brook Common is larger and includes a playground, tennis courts and five-a-side football pitch.
Judging by the number of dog-walkers using these open spaces day and night, there can’t be many households in Parsons Green that don’t own a mutt. The area has a reputation for being ultra pet-friendly – so much so that dodging the water bowls put out on the pavements has become a local pastime.
The mainly Georgian and Victorian properties are a big pull for buyers. Parsons Green was historically regarded as the aristocratic side of Fulham. Mrs Jordan, mistress of the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, lived in a house that still stands, overlooking the green, and is now Lady Margaret School for girls. The former home of Mrs Fitzherbert – who secretly married George IV before his accession to the throne – is long gone.
Red-brick houses in the Peterborough Estate – the parallel roads including Quarrendon and Perrymead Street, running south from New Kings Road – are the most desirable. Known as Lion houses, they were constructed during the 1890s in the grounds of Peterborough House by builder Jimmy Nichols, whose trademark was the stone lions that are displayed on their parapets.
‘Lion houses are very popular – and like gold dust,’ says Jamie Lester of estate agent Haus Properties.
We had [a lion house] that hadn’t been touched in more than 60 years on for £2.5million. It sold within 24 hours.
‘It’s now a given that properties in Parsons Green are going for £1,000 a square foot, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see £1,200 per square foot. It attracts lots of families, City professionals, affluent first-time buyers and investors. Anything coming on to the market gets a dozen people viewing it straight away.
‘The entry point for a one-bed flat is about £600,000, although cheaper flats do come up for sale in Sullivan Court, behind the Duke on the Green pub, which has to be the poshest council block in London.’
Emma Hanks of estate agent Douglas & Gordon is also witnessing huge demand. ‘Fulham is once again seeing a huge surge in prices and recent statistics confirm that annual growth in the area outperforms other parts of prime London,’ she says.
‘Inflated house prices are being created by the approximately 16 applicants per property, diminishing stock levels and a rising number of buyers.’
Demand for rented properties is high too, with no shortage of takers for flats that start at around £1,400 per month. New-builds are rare but Haus Properties will shortly be marketing a scheme of ten one, two and three-bedroom flats, with a lift into an underground car park, in Sands End, between Parsons Green and the Thames.
Council tax rates can be obtained from www.mycounciltax.org.uk