Cavendish Mansions

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History

The block of flats was erected by the great mansion block builder, Edward Jarvis Cave, Managing Director of The Middlesex Building Co. Cavendish Mansions was probably designed by Boehmer and Gibbs as they were architects long associated with Edward Cave's enterprises.

Edward Cave began business in 1865 with about £100 capital and in the following 35 years he was engaged in large-scale building operations in Hampstead and Maida Vale. Even today, Cave's buildings, especially those in West Hampstead, have a reputation for durability and solidity of construction and his blocks of flats are regarded as striking and distinctive landmarks. Another quirky fact linking Cave to the block is that his second wife, A Bretzfelder owned Cavendish Mansions until just before the First World War.

Edward Boehmer and Percy Gibbs were speculating architects and had built up a considerable reputation since early the 1890s as designers of fashionable and grandiose shops and mansion blocks on the continental model. Their trademarks were a projecting corner turrets, bigboned bay windows, and artificial stone as decoration on deep-red brick.

Cavendish Mansions residents were first mentioned in the West Hampstead Electoral Registers in 1904/5 and the 1905 Street Directory for Hampstead.

In 1907 the Times newspaper reported a very early case of speeding involving a resident of Cavendish Mansions. The article was headed 'Speed of Motor-cars' and concerned Oliver Stanton 'an American gentleman' then living at Cavendish Mansions. Oliver Stanton claimed to have taught the King, Edward VII, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the Royal Family 'in the art of motoring', and said that he was 'considered by the Press to be an expert on motor matters'; he had one of the earliest driving licences, no. 120.

Oliver Stanton came before Marylebone magistrates on two summonses, one for driving his car in Avenue Road, St Johns Wood, at a speed over 25 miles per hour, and the other for failing to produce his driving licence. When stopped Oliver Stanton pointed out that he was a friend of the Chief Commissioner, and he refused to show his licence to anyone of lower rank than inspector. He said that his licence had not up to then been endorsed and when the policemen asked for it he refused to produce it as it was a 'virgin' one. He offered instead to drive them all to the police station.

In 1939 Henry Kates, a rent collector of Cavendish Mansions, was sent down by Marylebone Magistrates, for 6 months prison plus hard labour for embezzlement. Henry Kate's average collections from 600 – 800 tenants were £600 - £700 a week. His wages were £4.50 (£4, 10 shillings) a week plus car allowance and Christmas bonus. His crime came to light when he was arrested for drink-driving. His books were examined and showed a deficiency of £1,056 over 10 months - about 4½ times his yearly salary.

We know Mansion Blocks

The first Mansion Blocks were built in the early 19th Century, providing luxurious residences for the growing urban upper middle classes. As the Industrial Revolution spread throughout Europe it brought about a population boom in the major cities, and Mansion Blocks were devised to provide luxurious housing for wealthy white collar workers. As the centre of the cities became increasingly crowded, the blocks provided this growing class with housing that boasted impressive entrances, generous elevations and balconies reminiscent of mansions. They were a particularly popular innovation in polite Parisian society.

In spite of their popularity on the continent, Londoners were initially sceptical about this new style of accommodation. In the 1850s a spacious Mansion flat would set back the buyer somewhere in the order of £50-£200 per annum, but the idea of living in such a communal manner was entirely contradictory to the dominant Victorian social ideals of the age.

Firstly, and most importantly, apartment dwellings were simply not considered ‘proper’, but it was not just a case of old English snobbery; there was also widely held fear that this new type of residence would increase the risk of burglary and the spread of infection and disease. By the 1880s London society had gradually warmed to the idea and the decade was marked by a flurry of Mansion Block
construction across the city.

We know West Hampstead

In Medieval times the hamlet of West End was first established as a small – and rather poor – conurbation set on the vacant strip of land nestled between Hampstead and Kilburn. Some years later in the early 18th Century, as Hampstead became an increasingly popular resort for wealthy Londoners on retreat, many of the residents of West End found employment serving in the grand houses and estates.

It was not until the latter half of the 19th Century that the village really started to grow. The arrival of the railway in the 1850s brought a new source of employment and transport access and by the 1890s the suburbs of London were gradually creeping towards Willesden and Cricklewood. During a 20 year period West End experienced a population explosion – up from 8 000 in 1881 to 30 000 in 1901. It was also during this time that West End picked up a new name – West Hampstead.