ELYSTAN PLACE, CHELSEA

When I started looking at this 1950s property on Elystan Place I had to admit that my first thought was that due to its age it was unlikely to have much of a history but I was glad to be proven wrong, as it is a great example of the fact that every house has a story.

Looking through the usual archives, such as the electoral register and street directories, I was perplexed by a 20-year gap in the records between 1930 and the mid 1950s and couldn't understand why this should be especially as the house is architecturally 1930s in style. When I began to delve deeper, I discovered that the earlier Victorian terrace had been knocked down when the Cadogan Estate sold the land in 1929 but there was still no answer as to why this house did not appear in records until 1954. I soon found the answer to the mystery when I visited the records of the council planning department.

“New planning applications were submitted ...all of which were rejected”

Plans for redeveloping the land for 15 family homes were approved in 1939 , but building work hadn't started by the time that WWII broke out. Due to the need for land on which to grow food, the plot was requisitioned by the council for use as allotments during the war, and only in 1946 did it once again become available for building. New planning applications were submitted, including for a cinema and community centre, a car park and a high-rise apartment block all of which were rejected. What is fascinating is that the council went back to the 1938 plans. With a few small alterations, these were accepted, and building work was completed in 1954. It is an exciting bit of history to see that, although built in the 1950s, this house was based on the old designs from the 1930s.