Wimbledon Village, South London: A quiet touch of class

Behind the back streets is where it's happening in Wimbledon Village. Substantial or radical property development is not likely in the village itself, which is small and heavily protected. But on the few habitable roads beyond the village amid the mansions and golf courses, remarkable houses are being built.

Behind the back streets is where it's happening in Wimbledon Village. Substantial or radical property development is not likely in the village itself, which is small and heavily protected. But on the few habitable roads beyond the village amid the mansions and golf courses, remarkable houses are being built.

This quaint period urban village is boldly, if quietly, ushering in a new era of sophisticated housebuilding and design. Railroads have an affinity for level ground, and when the railway came to Wimbledon in the 1830s, the station was in a valley. A still bustling Wimbledon town expanded rapidly around it.

Only a half-mile away, the village on the hill was left to its own lethargic devices. Wimbledon Village is dominated by its eponymous 1,100-acre common and contains as few as 500 or as many as 3,000 houses, depending on where you draw your boundaries.

"Virgin land is virtually impossible to obtain here, so you have to look for one to one replacement or large houses," says David Smith of property developer Octagon. "The Thames is a divide. South London people who want a Hampstead life style look here. It has golf, good schools, good transport and is very cosmopolitan."

Redundant health facilities have given Wimbledon Village (and Hampstead) some of its most noteworthy property redevelopments. Rydons, by Michael Shanly Homes, is a selection of flats and town houses in a former nursing home on Ridgway which is being released in two phases.

The stunning Kinsella Gardens on Camp Road, being developed by JHB Properties and Venture Developments, is another former nursing home. Distinctivewith its Dutch gable, the houses are extraordinary inside, with an elliptical staircase dramatically rising the full three storeys in a hallway flooded with light from a skylight dome.

At 4,000sq ft, these houses are not overly large for this neck of the woods, but cleverly designed modern space works harder than its Edwardian equivalent. For example, the 28-foot long orangery-style conservatory adjoins and extends the kitchen and dining room and can conveniently do dining-room duty for dinner parties of 30 or more guests.

"Our buyers are mainly older," says Nigel Sawers of Michael Shanly. "Because Wimbledon Village prices are pretty high, it doesn't attract typical family buyers, although we get a few buyers in their thirties."

Many buyers appear to be in investment banking, and their properties are sound investments. John Richards of Hampton's International says property values increase from 20 to 35 per cent a year.

As always, location is important. "Family buyers want to be within walking distance of the village and the schools," says Chris Hart of Knight Frank. "But the price of a house is not a matter of the property itself but rather what the buyer is earning."