Life in a grand new age
DEBORAH STONE takes a look at an overlooked suburb in the capital that is uniting contemporary style with a rich Roman past, even down to gardens inspired by history
EVERY NOW and again a new development can change the way we view an area we think we know. You don’t need to be local to picture London’s suburbs, full of inter-war and post-war terrace homes and semi-detached villas mirrored in districts from Birmingham to Manchester.
But thanks to ambitious regeneration
programmes some of those suburbs are firing back to life with new-build developments drawing young professionals and creating a more vibrant lifestyle.
Hounslow, in north west London, is one such place.
Defying everything you think you might know about this light industrial and residential area on the Greatwest Road, the London borough of Hounslow was recently named one of the UK’S top-10 hotspots with the greatest increase in demand for housing across the whole of London.
And interestingly, to anybody who doesn’t know the area, far from being a cultural wasteland Hounslow town is a fascinating study in social history going back to Roman times.
The Greatwest Road itself was once a Roman road out of London then became the Bath Road during the days of coaches – highwaymen were a constant hazard on Hounslow Heath – and eventually the road became the A4.
What is interesting is that Bronze Age spearheads, axes, swords, Celtic badges and amulets discovered around Hounslow are part of the British Museum’s collection and even now Roman artefacts are being found.
During excavation preceding the building of Habito, a new apartment block in the heart of Hounslow, Iron Age and Roman pottery was found on the site and this link with the past has been recreated in the building’s design.
Among the 37 apartments are three gardens created to look and feel like ancient sanctuaries, with raised flower beds that have built-in seating, while inside the apartments wall tiles are laid in the Roman herringbone design in the kitchens and bathrooms.
But possibly the most impressive aspect of Habito is its competitive pricing.
Just six apartments remain, including a one-bedroom, third-floor flat with a balcony and terrace for £315,000.
The rest are two-bedroom flats with balconies for £400,000 and £410,000 (020 7969 2709; u-p-g.co.uk), and all have open-plan kitchen/dining/living rooms plus access to the gardens, a fitness studio, electric car charging points and bicycle storage. Help To Buy is available.
Habito is close to the regeneration area of Hounslow Town Centre Housing Zone and has great public transport links.
It’s a six-minute walk to Hounslow Central Tube station, a few stops from Heathrow Airport and 43 minutes from Holborn near the City, while from the A4 it’s an easy drive to the M25 and M4.
There’s also a fair amount of green space nearby, including Chiswick House and gardens, Isleworth’s Syon House and Osterley Park and House, all on the eastern edge of the borough.
And then there’s Hounslow Heath, no longer the 4,000-plus acres where Oliver Cromwell stationed an army after the English Civilwar in 1647 or where the Highwayman Claude Duval – adored by his female victims – sometimes operated.
Now a 200-acre nature reserve, its northern boundary is still the old Roman Road and the River Crane nearby is a Archaeological Priority Area.
Who knows what else will be discovered during Hounslow’s current regeneration?