Cumberland Mansions

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History

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. In 1900 he went bankrupt owing £504,787 – a huge amount in those days - with assets of only £28,253!

Despite this Edward 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. 'Sunflower balconies' are a feature of Cumberland Mansions. Edward Boehmer and Percy Gibbs were speculating architects long associated with Edward Cave's enterprises and had built up a considerable reputation since the early 1890s as designers of fashionable and grandiose shops and mansion blocks on the continental model. Their trademarks were a projecting corner turrets, big-boned bay windows, and artificial stone as decoration on deep-red brick.

Cumberland Mansions residents are first mentioned in the 1903 Street Directory for Hampstead. Whilst a great deal of information cannot be found about the period, we do know that during the Second World War (1939 - 1945) many, but not all, Cumberland Mansions residents left London. In 1974 the Times printed two letters from Graham Arnold, the Sales Director of Lotus Cars between 1963 - 1970, who lived at 9 Cumberland Mansions. The first letter was about the then Government's stand against 'hysterical' calls for petrol rationing following the strikes of 1973. The second letter recalled Mr Arnold's days with Lotus Cars during the 1960s when the company was one of the largest British manufacturer of high-performance sports cars. Cumberland Mansions has a tenants and residents group, called Cumberland Mansions Limited, a company formed by the residents to administer the freehold of the block. Perfectly situated for the cafes, restaurants, trendy shops and transport links provided along West End Lane, Cumberland Mansions is one of West Hampstead's most sought after residential addresses.

West End Lane

West End Lane is an old road and probably existed as an access way in the Middle Ages since it formed the boundary of several ancient estates. It was named after the originally isolated hamlet of West End centred on West End Green and formerly the 'west end' part of Hampstead parish, where the
Kilburn stream crossed West End Lane. West End Lane was also called Shoot Up Hill Lane. Original plans of Edward Cave name the part of West End Lane where Cumberland Mansions is situated 'Cock and Hoop Lane', after the famous tavern that used to be on the site of Alexandra Mansions.

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.