Living in Golders Green: area guide to homes, schools and transport links
Estate agent Graham Gold from the local branch of Winkworth describes Golders Green as a vibrant, relatively affordable and traditional neighbourhood with access to great amenities such as Golders Hill Park and the Hampstead Heath Extension.
Hampstead Garden Suburb is not in Hampstead — this most famous of garden suburbs is in Golders Green, one stop further down the Northern line from Hampstead. It attracts architects and urbanists from around the world, eager to learn about the history of one of the first garden suburbs.
Inspired by the philanthropist Henrietta Barnett and the architect and planner Raymond Unwin and his partner Richard Barry Parker, the original utopian idea was to create a community “that persons of all classes of society and standards of income should be accommodated and that the handicapped be welcomed”.
Homes in the suburb range from studios to large seven-bedroom houses and were all originally rented. Today, they are owner-occupied and it is not uncommon to find homes that have been in the same family for generations.
The heritage of the fine, mainly Arts and Crafts architecture is protected by the all-powerful Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust which has the final say on any proposed changes to the 5,000 homes in the suburb
Frank Pick was the London Transport boss responsible for commissioning the iconic Tube map and there is a blue plaque on the house where he lived in Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Winkworth’s Graham Gold says the popularity of Hampstead Garden Suburb annoys some people who choose to live in other parts of Golders Green. “Strict planning laws in the suburb make it hard for families to alter their houses and as a result some move to areas where there is more flexibility,” he says.
“I have seen families move from the suburb to the roads close to the United Synagogue in Dunstan Road, where the Jewish state primary school, Rimon, is based.” This is the synagogue where the former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was based between 1978 and 1982.
The property scene
Hampstead Garden Suburb has flats, mostly Arts and Crafts style, in leafy roads. Prices in the suburb range from £375,000 for a one-bedroom flat in Meadway Court in need of modernisation to £8.5 million for a seven-bedroom detached house in Ingram Avenue, overlooking Turner’s Wood bird sanctuary.
Quite a number of the houses on the market in the suburb are being sold for the first time in a generation.
A four-bedroom house in Turner Drive is on sale for the first time in 50 years, at £2.15 million, and a three-bedroom cottage in Temple Fortune Hill by renowned architect Courtenay M Crickmer is on the market for the first time in 60 years, at £850,000.
Elsewhere, Golders Green has mainly Thirties detached houses and semis, and a variety of flats — some in converted houses, others in Thirties blocks, and there are modern blocks, too.
Golders Green Estate, south-west of Golders Green station, was built by Laing in the Thirties and is arranged in a series of concentric circles off Pennine Drive; a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Cheviot Gardens is for sale for £659,950.
At Riverside Drive, a Thirties block in Golders Green Road, a two-bedroom flat is on at £500,000 and a four-bedroom flat is £1.09 million.
Carmel Gate in Havanna Drive is the recent conversion of a former Carmelite monastery. A two-bedroom flat here is for sale at £700,000 and a three-bedroom flat is £899,950.
New-build homes
Four5two Finchley Road is a Bellis Homes development of 13 two- and three-bedroom flats on the Cricklewood border. Two-bedroom flats start at £925,000 and three-bedroom flats at £1.5 million. Call Glentree on 020 8731 9500.
The Constable in Finchley Road in Temple Fortune is the conversion of a former police station into 18 two- and three-bedroom apartments with a concierge and off-street parking which launches in January.
Two-bedroom flats are priced from £1.2 million and three-bedroom flats from £1.25 million. Call Glentree (as before).
Renting
Golders Green is a popular place to rent for young professionals and young families who go for flats close to the station. Flats range in price from £1,096 a month for a one-bedroom flat in a conversion in Alyth Gardens to £8,233 a month for a three-bedroom penthouse in a modern development in West Heath Road.
Rents for houses range from £1,500 for a two-bedroom property in Basing Hill to £19,500 a month for a six-bedroom house in Ingram Avenue.
Staying power
Golders Green is a family area with many homes owned for generations of the same families, especially in Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Postcode
NW11 is the Golders Green postcode. To the south-west it strays into NW2, the Cricklewood postcode.
Best roads
Anywhere in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Outside the suburb, the best roads are off The Ridgeway — including Armitage Road, Gresham Gardens and Basing Hill, where there are detached Twenties houses — and Rotherwick Road and Corringham Road, both very close to Golders Green station, where there are spacious Twenties Arts and Crafts-inspired semis.
Up and coming
The roads closest to Brent Cross have smaller terrace houses which make this the more affordable corner of Golders Green.
Transport
Golders Green is served by two Underground stations: Golders Green and Brent Cross. Both stations are on the Edgware branch of the Northern line and are in Zone 3. An annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,648.
Useful commuter buses include the No 13 to Victoria via Marble Arch, the No 139 to Waterloo via Oxford Circus and No 328 to Chelsea via Kensington High Street. The H2 is a “hail and ride” bus between Hampstead Garden Suburb and Golders Green station and No 210 takes shoppers to Brent Cross.
Council
Barnet council is Conservative controlled. Band D council tax for 2019/2020 is £1,545.41.
Lifestyle
Shops and restaurants
Golders Green town centre is around the station, principally along Golders Green Road.
There is further shopping in Temple Fortune on Finchley Road where the shops are more convenient for Hampstead Garden Suburb residents.
In Golders Green town centre there is a large branch of Sainsbury’s and branches of chains Caffè Nero, KFC, Boots, and Tesco Express but most of the shops, cafés and restaurants are independent, with many long-standing Jewish businesses and newer Japanese and Korean ones.
Carmelli is a long-standing bakery; Kosher Deli is a small chain of delicatessens with another branch in Temple Fortune; Maxim and Novellino are two all-day Kosher restaurants with Novellino due to open a new steak restaurant soon.
Seoul Plaza is a large Korean supermarket, part of a small chain; Sarang is a Korean barbecue; and for fans of sushi there’s Café Japan, Sushi Haven and Eat Tokyo, the last one part of a growing London chain.
At Temple Fortune on Finchley Road there is a Waitrose and M&S Food Hall and branches of Gail’s and Costa, plus the original branch of florist Moyses Stevens. Kisharon is good for gifts and supports people with disabilities.
Daniels is a Jewish bakery and caterer; there is a fishmonger JA Corney; newcomer French patisserie and café Joie de Vie, part of an emerging north London chain, and Nu Nosh is a popular lunchtime café. Burger Bar is a modern Kosher burger restaurant.
One Asbourne is a new Kosher restaurant on the site of the much-missed Joseph’s bookshop.
The Old Bull & Bush in North End Way and Spaniards Inn in Spaniards Road are two famous pubs which attract drinkers and diners in search of a cosy country-style local.
Open space
Golders Hill Park in North End Way is a landscaped park run by the City of London; it has a small zoo, Mediterranean and water gardens, a café, bandstand, tennis courts, croquet lawn and children’s playground.
Hampstead Heath Extension, also run by the City of London, is a wild area of green open space, hedges, woodland and ponds which was saved from development by philanthropist Henrietta Barnett in 1907.
Leisure and the arts
Golders Green is a cultural desert although Hampstead is close by. Baby to Bach runs children’s concerts in the Hampstead Garden Suburb Free Church in North Square.
Curtis & Staub is a private health club with a swimming pool in Golders Green Road. The nearest council swimming pool is at Barnet Copthall Leisure Centre in Champions Way in Hendon.
Schools
Primary school
There are two Jewish state primary schools: Menorah in The Drive, which is judged to be “outstanding” by the Ofsted education watchdog; and Rimon in Dunstan Road, which is judged to be “good”.
The other popular state primary schools are: Garden Suburb Infants and Juniors in Childs Way, rated “good”; and Brookland Infants and Juniors in Hill Top, which is judged to be “outstanding”.
Grammar
Henrietta Barnett (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Central Square in Hampstead Garden Suburb is a selective grammar school which regularly comes top of the league tables; it is judged to be “outstanding”.
Comprehenisve
The nearest state comprehensive schools are: Whitefield (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Claremont Road in Cricklewood, and Christ’s College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in East End Road in East Finchley, both judged to be “good”.
Hendon School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Golders Rise in Hendon, is rated “outstanding”.
Private
The private primary schools are: St Anthony’s (girls, ages four to 11), a Catholic school, in North End Road; Golders Hill (co-ed, ages one to seven) in Finchley Road, and Annemount (co-ed, ages three to seven) in Holne Chase.
The private all-through and secondary schools are: The King Alfred (co-ed, ages five to 18), a progressive school with no uniform in North End Road; and Beth Jacob Grammar School (girls, ages 11 to 17), an Orthodox Jewish school in Stratford Road in Hendon.
There are two more Orthodox Jewish private schools: Lubavitch Yeshiva Ketanah (boys, ages 13 to 16) in Finchley Road and Talmud Torah Tiferis Shlomoh (boys, ages three to 15) in Elmcroft Crescent, which are both judged to be “inadequate” by Ofsted.
There are two top private schools in nearby Highgate: Highgate School (co-ed, ages three to 18) in North Road and Channing (girls, ages four to 18) in The Bank, off Highgate Hill. In Hampstead, University College School, UCS (boys, ages four to 18, with girls in the sixth form) in Frognal is a popular choice.