Westbourne Terrace, W2
Paddington
Westbourne Terrace was an idea of George Gutch the builder.

By 1840 plans had been made to exploit more of the Paddington Estate as the eastern part of Bayswater, where the future Gloucester Terrace, Westbourne Terrace and Eastbourne Terrace were to lead to Bishop’s Road.

The layout was drawn out by George Gutch, whose long avenues contrasted with the interrelated squares and short streets of nearby ’Tyburnia’. Terraces were chosen, rather than villas, perhaps in order to mask the railway.

Westbourne Terrace was begun from the south end in the 1840s and finished between 1856 and 1860. The main builders were William King and William Kingdom. The blocks north of Craven Road were by Kingdom, who also built most of Gloucester Terrace between 1843 and 1852.

Westbourne Terrace was described by a contemporary as "unrivalled in its class in London or even Great Britain". The houses form long stuccoed terraces of four storeys and attic over a basement, with pillared porches, many of them designed by T. Marsh Nelson. They face carriage drives and were separated on either side from the tree-shaded roadway by screen walls surmounted by railings.

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