House renovation
& refurbishment
in Swiss Cottage, NW3

Eton Avenue's big detached red brick houses were built over fifteen to twenty years starting in 1885, and across the Eton Avenue area houses are mostly two storeys with an attic level.

Fellows Road has a run of paired and detached three-storey villas at Nos 26 to 72, and at its western end, Nos 129 to 139, paired yellow brick villas with red brick dressings and Dutch gables.

King Henry's Road consists mostly of big semi-detached villas in yellow stock brick, enriched with stucco and carved stone.

Further up, around Fitzjohn's Avenue, most houses are large and detached or semi-detached, between two and six storeys tall.

Crossfield Road and Adamson Road, part of the Eton College estate, were built speculatively in the 1870s and 1880s with less ornament and a wider variety of house types.

Sources: Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002), Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009), Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022), Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002)

On the South Hampstead side, a replacement window identical to the old in glazing bars, frame, cill and opening needs no permission.

The Fitzjohns/Netherhall appraisal treats how deep a window sits in its opening as part of the building's character, and records metal frames in some inter-war and post-war houses.

Most original timber sashes and casements in the Elsworthy area survive, and the council expects features like these to be kept, and replaced only once they are past repair.

Repairing windows and replacing them appear as separate lines in our price, so the cost of keeping originals is plain to see.

Sources: Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026), Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022), Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009)

West of Finchley Road the typical front boundary is a low wall in red, blue engineering, yellow stock or blackened lava brick, with gate piers.

A replacement boundary out of keeping with the original is unlikely to be allowed, hedges that line the street should be kept, and original tiled paths repaired.

Belsize's statement records front gardens and walls lost to forecourt parking on Buckland Crescent, and a broken frontage outside Nos 38 to 40 Eton Avenue.

Around Fitzjohn's Avenue, Camden will resist losing any more front walls and gardens to parking.

Sources: Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026), Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area, what the new planning measures mean for you (Article 4(1) factsheet, 1 September 2010, updated June 2026), Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002), Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022)

New services belong out of sight of the street, and the Elsworthy strategy warns that conspicuous cable runs, dishes, lamps and alarm boxes harm an old building.

Solar panels are welcomed by the Fitzjohns/Netherhall appraisal where they can sit out of view.

Rewiring, heating and plumbing are planned floor by floor, with cable and pipe routes picked so cornices, shutters and boards come up and go back rather than being lost.

Fitted wardrobes and bookcases from our Swiss Cottage joinery workshop are drawn with the services, so cupboards hide new risers instead of fighting them.

Sources: Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area, what the new planning measures mean for you (Article 4(1) factsheet, 1 September 2010, updated June 2026), Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009), Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022)