The best place to live in London?

Picture the scene. An aerial shot, looking across the tiled roofs of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and the playing fields of Burton Court, towards the houses of St Leonard’s Terrace. In 1986, this image appeared on the cover of Harpers & Queen, alongside the question: ‘Is this the best place to live in the world?’ As Johnny Barren recalls: ‘That’s when I got a sense of how lucky I was to live here.’

Johnny and his sister Susannah grew up on St Leonard’s Terrace, in an enchanting family home currently for sale with Russell Simpson and Dawes London for the first time since 1974. The house has since been featured in several books and newspaper articles – and even as a filming location – thanks to the glorious wisteria that grows across the façade and blossoms with violet flowers each spring.

For Susannah, their home occupied the best spot on the entire street. As well as being set back from the road with off-street parking, its central position gives wonderful views across Burton Court towards the Hospital. ‘The Georgian proportions mean that it’s spacious and light and you get a real sense of entering a retreat when you come through the door. It’s very green as well – wisteria in the spring, roses in the summer and winter – so it’s a beautiful place to live.’

Decorating the house was ‘a labour of love’ for Johnny and Susannah’s parents. Their mother taught fashion design at St Martin’s School of Art and the walls were decorated with work from artists she had known or taught. There were also souvenirs from travels round the world and numerous shelves of books. And they worked very hard on the garden too, not only looking after the famous wisteria, but also tending the roses at the rear of the house, which rises three storeys high.

This address has plenty of history. The first houses on St Leonard’s Terrace were built in 1765. At the time, it was known as Green’s Row, after the brewer and landowner John Greene (not to be confused with the famous brewing family that later emerged in Suffolk). By the end of the eighteenth century, the Greene estate had been broken up and sold off, and this section of the street was built a few decades later.

In 1891, the Irish writer Bram Stoker arrived at No.18 St Leonard’s Terrace. During this period, Stoker worked as a manager at the Lyceum Theatre, as well as writing novels on the side. According to legend, he started his most famous novel, Dracula, after eating too much dressed crab and suffering from nightmares. That book was written between 1895-6, but several accounts suggest Stoker was occupying the neighbouring property at the time. In other words, Dracula was written in the home where Johnny and Susannah spent their childhoods.

At this point Chelsea was popular with writers and artists – such as Stoker’s friend Oscar Wilde. That bohemian reputation revived in the ’60s and ’70s, when the neighbourhood attracted the likes of Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones. Growing up in the house, Johnny remembers many celebrated figures from the arts who were neighbours.

‘Richard Rogers lived on the corner, Laurence Olivier six doors down, Hugh Hudson, a Bond girl …’ But the neighbourhood was not flashy – some people had cars that were decades old – and there was a strong sense of community among the residents.

‘There’s definitely still a sense of community,’ Johnny continues. ‘Many of our neighbours have been here for years. At 8am in the morning, you see all the people who live here walking their children to school.’

Johnny and Susannah’s mother liked spending time at the nearby Chelsea Arts Club, as well as hosting her students for a garden party each summer. There were also birthday celebrations, Jubilee and VE day parties, and even Susannah’s wedding.

For Johnny, the property remains ‘an oasis in a fairly hectic part of London. Our house is one of the only ones that looks straight down the gardens of Royal Avenue, so there are beautiful views from both sides. You always feel this sense of space and calm. It’s unique in that respect.’

Explore St Leonard's Terrace here.