The Gables

The 1838 tithe map shows a large farm stretching from Sheen Common to the Upper Richmond Road owned by Edwards (no first name given) and farmed by William Swannell. Around 1850 the farmland between was divided into twenty lots, mainly of one or two acres, and sold for the building of large Victorian villas.

The farmhouse itself was purchased by Edward Penrhyn of The Cedars and continued in his family's ownership for many years. The house was considerably extended in Victorian style and is surrounded by a garden of one acre. For most of the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th, the house was let to Sir Charles Bagot. Bagot was for many years First Commissioner of the Lunacy Commission which was set up to monitor and regulate lunatic asylums and hospitals for the insane. When Albert Betts drew the house he entitled the picture "Bagot's House".

The house was bought by Rudolf Nureyev in 1967 who used it as his London home until 1982. The dancer had most of the first floor converted into one vast bedroom suite. The house was rummoured to be the venue for wild parties.

The Gables is now called the Old Farm and stands on Fife Road.