On the north side of the Upper Richmond Road between Waitrose and a white cottage (formally Vine Cottage) was an access road that is currently used by Waitrose delivery vehicles. This road was once the entrance to the houses of Columbia Square.

The 13 cottages in Columbia Square were built in 1826 by John Turner on land that was formally an orchard. The cottages were brick-built and described in the 1914 Valuation as "in good order". Each had a very small front garden with a picket fence. In the centre of the Square was a wooden structure but its purpose is unknown. The 1905 drawing by Turner shows a gas lamp in the centre of the Square.

No.1 Columbia Square was a detached cottage with two rooms on the ground floor, two on the upper floor with a WC in the yard. Nos. 2 to 5 were a terrace of two ground floor and two upper floor rooms, again with an outside WC. Nos. 6 to 8 were a similar terrace of two ground and two upper floor rooms, but they also had sculleries on the ground floor, as well as an outside WC. Nos. 9 to 12 had two ground floor rooms and two first floor rooms and an outside WC. Next to No.9 was a dilapidated building which had been used as a workshop. Cottage No.13 was a detached building on one floor with two rooms, a scullery and an outside WC. The cottages formed four sides of a square, as can be seen on the 1914 Valuation map below.

The 1901 Census reveals much about the people who lived in these cottages. At No.2 were Samuel and Mary Hibbard. Samuel was a bricklayer's labourer, and had nine children, aged 19,17,15,13,11,9,7,5 and 3. Thomas Cole from No.3 was a widower who worked in market gardens. He was bringing up six young children, including a baby, and had a servant, Ann, to help him. In the small cottage at No.13 Thomas and Martha Green lived alone. Martha was aged 75 and Thomas was a gardener aged 67.

A majority of the men worked in the market gardens. Generally, the residents were from Mortlake or Ireland and there were a few boarders living with families. The rent in 1914 was 7s per week for all the cottages except for No.13 which was 4/6d per week.

It is not clear why the cottages were demolished in 1926 but after demolition the site became a yard and garages.

In 1971, when plans were being discussed about the development of the old Columbia Square site, doubts were raised over the ownership of the land. It was said by some that it was marked on maps as a public square and should therefore not be built on but that it should be turned into a public car park. However, the development of the Waitrose and Safeway supermarkets went ahead and were both opened in 1973. The access road to Model Cottages from the Upper Richmond Road was to be maintained in the development – this became the entrance to Waitrose car park. The houses to the south of the Columbia Square site were all demolished in 1972 including a large, detached house, Red Lodge, (No.2568 on the Valuation map) to make way for the Waitrose supermarket. The northern boundary wall of the Columbia Square site still exists and backs onto Model Cottages, separating it from Waitrose delivery area and is painted white.