Designed for families

The Mapesbury Estate is a leafy, residential haven in north-west London. A triangular oasis of broad streets lined with red-brick Edwardian and Victorian villas (constructed between 1870 and 1920), bordered by Willesden to the west, Cricklewood to the north and Kilburn to the east. It's one of Brent's largest conservation areas and was granted the status in 1982.

There are 706 residential buildings on the Mapesbury Estate, which earned its name from the late Geoffrey Stiff, an estate agent who presided over the area where Mapesbury was the central road, for about 40 years. More than a third of the large properties were converted into bedsits, but in the past five years, young professionals and their families have moved into the area and converted it back into a family-based community.

Now only 10 per cent of the houses remain as flats. According to Geoffrey Allen, Geoffrey Stiff's son, who runs Cameron Stiff & Co, the new affluent residents are moving in from Hampstead, West Hampstead, Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove and Randolph Avenue. "The Mapesbury houses are great for lateral space and are wider than houses in Queens Park, for example." The fashionable mix of bistros, bars and exotic delis is still to arrive, but it is only a matter of time for the knock-on effect in the surrounding high streets of Willesden and Kilburn to reach the Mapesbury Estate.

Allen says: "Buyers are getting the size house they want, they can shop in Finchley Road or Ladbroke Grove, they can do the Hampstead schools thing, the area is a good investment and the community spirit is incredible."

The bad news is, however, that prices have risen dramatically and properties are now harder to find.

'WE LOOKED IN AN A TO Z AND SAW THAT THESE HOUSES HAD HUGE GARENS'

Sera and Paul Mendelsohn, and their eight-year-old daughter, Imogen, were looking for more space and value for money when they decided to move from south Hampstead. Sera, 41, a fashion and design consultant, says: "Paul comes from Yorkshire so outdoor space was important."

Initially, they looked in Belsize Park but gardens were rare and the parking was a problem. A friend suggested the Mapesbury Estate. "We looked in an A to Z and saw that these houses had huge gardens." When they moved into their large detached Victorian property a few years ago, they got an excellent deal. Paul, 37, who runs his own pharmaceutical consultancy company, says: "The house prices then were equivalent to a three-bedroom flat in Hampstead and we got a large house with well proportioned rooms and a 150ft garden."

They received a warm welcome, too. "When we moved in, the woman next door threw a dinner party and I received flowers from either side and cards. It was incredible," recalls Sera.

There was plenty of work to be done to the house, however. The previous occupants were an elderly Polish couple who had rented out five bedsits. "There were about seven cookers piled up outside when we started work on the house. We ripped out everything."

Eventually, the house was returned to its original glory, complete with the Victorian fireplaces, doors and other features that Sera discovered stored in the attic.