Houses on Stonehill

Stonehill Road was laid out in the 1860s, running from the southern part of Sheen Lane to Palewell Common. The earliest house built on it was Fern Bank, later Enmore. It was built in 1867 by Herbert Reeves and overlooked the Common. Three other houses were later built along Stonehill Road: Stonehill for Sir William White, Hinxton House and The Grange. The last two were designed by Ingress Bell in 1877.

Hinxton House was built for RW Willis and took its name from Hinxton, a village near Cambridge. The house was said to be built of a fine red brick of excellent colour and quality.

Henry Vernet, a Swiss banker, built The Grange next to Hinxton House. It was a large house of grey stock brick and Doulting stone. The Building News, with the illustration on the right, described it thus:

It stands upon an elevated site on the borders of Richmond Park and overlooking the beautiful Roehampton Valley. The grounds are of considerable extent and the stabling occupies an outlying portion, having a separate road of approach [ie Vicarage Road].

Thomas Earp was the architectual carver for both The Grange and Hinxton House. Heaton, Butler & Bayne created the stained glass. In a tribute paid to Ingress Bell on his death, The Grange was specifically mentioned as one of his important country houses.

Adjoining The Grange but with an entrance in Vicarage Road, Hillfield, at first called The Maisonette was built for FW Catt in 1875. The architect was RH Burden and his drawing of the north elevation (left) overlooking the Palewell estate appeared in The Architect in that year.

Of these five Victorian villas only Enmore, now divided into flats, survives. The others have been replaced by much smaller suburban housing in Vicarage Road, Stonehill Road and Enmore Gardens.