So said Harpers’ magazine of Fitzjohn’s Avenue in 1883 – less than a decade after the road had first been conceived by Sir Spencer Maryon-Wilson, owner of the Hampstead estate. His vision was of a ‘truly imposing’ tree-lined boulevard, which would rise towards the village on the hill from the popular new turnpike of Finchley Road.
Set back to either side of the avenue were some of the finest residences in all of London, commissioned by diamond merchants, ship builders and steel magnates – but also by some of the age’s most notable artists: John Pettie at No. 2, Frank Holl at No. 6, and Edwin Long at No. 61. Fitzjohn’s Avenue has retained an air of assurance, refinement and nobility ever since.