Earls Court Living
Bramham Gardens
Bramham Gardens is a lovely garden square on the east side of Earls Court Road just north of Old Brompton Road. On the north side the buildings are mainly five or six-storeys high. They are red-brick and there are some very grand mansion blocks. The central garden is very large and has many mature trees, shrubs and a large expanse of grass. On the south side the buildings back immediately on to the garden square. The east side of the square is actually called Collingham Gardens.
Bramham Gardens, which was part of Robert Gunter II’s estate, was originally to be developed by the Gunter’s favourite builder, John Spicer. But Spicer died in 1883 and it would seem that his son G J Spicer, a solicitor who was friendly with the Gunter’s solicitor, secured most of what his father would have developed. He became the Gunter’s lessee of sites in various parts of the estate and employed builders to do the construction work. In other parts, sub-leases were granted to builders with Spicer’s consent and he must have remained financially involved. We know who the builders were in Bramham Gardens but not what their precise relationship to Spicer was.
Nos. 1-18 Bramham Gardens, the range of houses on the north side of Bolton Gardens, were built by James Whitaker a builder from Hammersmith in 1883-6. They were interesting houses in a new style becoming fashionable at the time, but Whitaker ran into a period when the public wanted flats not houses, his new houses wouldn’t sell and he went bankrupt in 1887, although he was back in business again by 1890.
The range of houses at right angles to Whitaker’s houses and comprising Nos. 19-27 Bramham Gardens, was put up in 1885-6 by the builder H A Matthews to designs by his architect M Hulbert.
On the north side of Bramham Gardens, E and J W Sage, a firm of Hammersmith builders, built No. 28 in 1887-8. S A Cumming, a builder from Hanwell, constructed the adjoining properties - No. 29 in 1893, No. 30 in 1895, and No. 31 (formerly 31-33) in 1894-5. Sage returned in 1886-7 to build the rest of the row of houses at Nos. 39-47.
