Intro
The quiet suburb of Stanmore is a peaceful residential area that, although it sits inside the M25, has a distinct village feel since it’s dotted with country clubs, sports fields and tree-lined roads.
Its history dates back a long way – there are even two mentions of it in the Domesday Book. Popular with families due to the array of excellent schools close at hand, Stanmore’s community enjoys access to acres and acres of open green space that is spread across commons and ancient beech woodlands. Highlights include Stanmore Country Park – a local park and nature reserve – and the numerous golf clubs, such as Brockley Hill Golf Park.
Despite all the plush greenery, Stanmore sits right on the edge of London, approximately 10 miles from the centre of town. As well as being close to junction 4 of the M1, there’s the Jubilee line underground station at Stanmore or the Northern line close by at Edgware, so access to the city is straightforward. The area is also home to some of the grandest properties in northwest London and large mansions have featured prominently in its history: the First Duke of Chandos built a stately home there, called Cannons, between 1713 and 1724. It was the most expensive house of its day, costing £200,000 (equivalent to £28,130,000 today) to build and Handel was the resident composer there for a number of years. These days, you might not have a music maestro at your beck and call but you can expect to find plenty of grand housing stock and a settled, friendly, family community.
Trivia
A large site was constructed in Stanmore in 1942 to support the Bletchley Park code-breaking establishment. It housed some of the increasing number of Bombe machines – the electro-mechanical devices used by cryptologists to help decipher German enigma messages during World War II.
Smartest streets
In Stanmore, Georgian houses and cottages abound, as do large detached homes dating from the 1920s and later. You’ll also find 1930s bungalows and modern flats here. The most prestigious roads, such as Priory Drive (Stanmore’s millionaires’ row), Valencia Road and Bentley Way, border some of the attractive green spaces in the area. Numerous large detached abodes with substantial grounds can be found between Stanmore Common and Bentley Priory. Further south, there’s the Broadway and Canons Park, which offer less grand yet still sizeable Edwardian and mid-war semis and detached properties. Homes on the Aylmer Drive estate are also highly desirable.