The History of Burlington Court
“Burlington Court was built as a hotel in 1901 by The Great Western Railway Company and its subsidiary Great Western Hotels soon after completion of the railway connecting Gunnersbury and Clapham Junction. At that time all the land in the Grove Park area of Chiswick was owned by the Cavendish family, whose titular head is better known as the Duke of Devonshire – of Chatsworth fame. The family lived for several months of the year in a large house, now demolished, behind the Chiswick House of today. Two or three large villas were built on the Chiswick estate in the mid-19th century to house scions of the Cavendish family, the most notable house being on Bolton Road next to Spencer Road and in full view of Burlington Court itself.
The hotel may have had a few successful years, but then the First World War arrived, followed by several years of severe economic depression. It is at this time that the hotel closed, and is thought to have become an establishment catering to gentlemen requiring entertainment of a particular kind. Nobody is sure how long this lasted. Certainly by the end of the 1940s Burlington Court had been converted into flats. Grove Park was very much off the beaten track even then – one reason why the Ministry of Defence chose Chiswick as a good place for safe houses. Heathrow had not opened as a commercial airport, and Chiswick High Road remained merely a conduit to the West Country.
For the next 40 years nothing much happened, and Burlington Court soldiered on, run down and not much sought after. Things were now to change quickly. For Chiswick suddenly become popular in the mid-1970s. By 1980 flats at the front of Burlington Court were changing hands at the then respectable price of £23,000. During the subsequent 20 years the price rose ten-fold, reaching a high of £360,000 in September 2007. Run by Burlington Court Residents (Chiswick) Ltd, in which all flat owners are shareholders, the property began a programme of major improvements in 2006 with the aim of making the building one of the most sought-after places to live in West London”
Charles Meynell
Director