34 WE DNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD

ropert Property searching with Zoopla

Famous faces help tell story of a suburb • with real sense of community Novelist Zadie Smith was inspired by growing up in this part of north-west . which ex-mayor calls home. Anthea Masey went to find out more

HO is 's and Lydford Road, with mainly red­ £470,000, while in the roads off Anson favourite celebrity? brick Edwardian detached and semi­ Road, a three-or four-bedroom Victo­ Could it be novelist detached houses. The Cricklewood rian terrace is £550,000 to £700,000, Zadie Smith, who Railway Terraces is the other conserva­ a two-bedroom railway cottage can be opened her first novel tion area. East of Cricklewood Broad­ bought for about £400,000, and a two­ WhiteW Teeth with the lines: "Early in the way and north of Kara Way, this little bedroom garden fl at is b etween morning, late in the century, Crickle­ enclave of cottages - some with com­ £350,000 and £400,000. • wood Broadway" and who has recently munal gardens, some with little front The area attracts: Cricklewood has a returned to her home territory with her gardens set out opposite an access path real sense of community. People often latest novel, NW? Or is it former London - were built in the 1880s when the arrive here first when they can't afford mayor Ken Livingstone, a long-time local Midland Railway moved its depot from Queen's Park or West Hampstead. resident who famously keeps newts in Kentish Town to Cricklewood. Staying power: there are long-stand­ his garden pond? ing Irish and Jewish residents Seven miles north-west of central WHAT THERE IS TO BUY who have brought up their families in London, this suburb sits on Watling Cricklewood also offers terraces of Cricklewood. Street, one of the straightest roads out Victorian houses off Anson road, with of the capital; the old Roman road is semi-detached and terrace Edwardian SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS Bright spot: the Broadway is enlivened by its Asian fruit and vegetable shops now better known as the AS . Crickle­ houses between the Broadway and The shopping along Cricklewood wood Broadway is the heart of the Fordwych Road, Twenties and Thirties Broadway serves day-to-day needs but neighbourhood and the current Mayor houses east ofth e railway, and mansion won't set shopaholics' hearts racing . • ofLondon, Borisjohnson, has noticed flats near Shoot Up Hill . , There is a big B&Q on Cricklewood that the place could do with a facelift. Stewart Boyd; of the local branch of Lane and where Cricklewood Broad­ The Mayor's Outer London Fund and estate agents Wi nkworth,. says prop­ way turns back into Edgware Road the boroughs ofBarnet and Brent have erty prices are now well above the level there is a small retail park with pledged £2.26million towards town­ achieved at the last peak in the autumn branches ofMatalan and Wickes. Close centre improvements. of 2007. by there is a good lighting shop, Arrow Tonight, Zadie Smith returns to her Usi ng as an example his own three­ Lighting, and Raft sells solid wood fur­ home turf with a charity event at the bedroom garden flat, he revealed that niture. Elementree on the Broadway is handsome, four-star Crown Moran he bought it in 2007 near the top of the a popul ar wine bar and restaurant. Hotel, the Broadway's landmark red­ market for £285,000, and that last year On the Mapesbury Estate, people tend brick and terracotta former pub, while an offer of £308,000 fell through. He to make for the shops on Walm Lane on Saturday, the second annual Silk put it back on the market again this next to Green station where Street festival celebrates the area's year a nd recently sold it for there is a gastropub, The Queens bury, • cultural diversity. £350,000. with an associated deli and cafe. The Broadway couldn't be a more Buyers on the Mapesbury Estate now typical London street with its cheap expect to pay at least £1.2 million for a OPEN SPACES cafes, old bingo hall, pound stores and substantial house. The large twenties Gladstone Park covers 97 acres Asian corner shops with their bright semi-detached houses in Asmara and between Cricklewood and , displays of fru it and veg- all giving no Somali roads sell for between £1.2 mil­ with a walled garden, a cafe, tennis clue to the fine roads of Victorian and lion and £1. 5 milli on. courts and children's playgrounds. The Edwardian houses that lie behind. The Smaller Thirties semi-detached Mapesbury De ll on Hoveden Road is a Green appeal: pretty gardens, some of them communal, serve the enclave of Mapesbury Estate conservation area is houses in and around Pennine Drive community "secret garden" with a + cottages known as Cricklewood Railway Terraces, which were built in t he 1880s a grid of roads running off Exeter Road sell for between £380,000 and children's playground, owned by the EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 201 3 3!

with Zoopla Property searching omes&

CHECK THE STATS • WHAT HOMES COST: • Go ONLINE FOR BUYING IN CRICKLEWOOD MORE: (Average prices) • The best schools, the best streets, the most expensive One-bedroom flat £265,000 homes in the area and the latest Two-bedr0011 flat £363,000 new housing developments, plus Two-bedroo11 house £356,000 an insight into the rental scene Three-bedroom house £555,000 ______• How this area compares with the Four-bedroom house £893,000 rest of the UK Source: Zoopla.co.uk • Smart maps to plot your RENTING IN CRICKLEWOOD property search (Average rates) -one-bedroom------flat £1 ,231 amonth Two-bedroom flat £1,610 amonth For all tl1is and more. visit Two-bedroo11 house £1,554 amonth bomesaDd Three-bedroom house £2,154 amonth property.co.ak/ Four-bedroom house £2,670 amonth spotlightcricklewood Source: Zoopla .co.uk

council but maintained in part by local Brick by brick: the entrance to pretty Wood work: at Raft, a furniture shop volunteers. There is birdwatching and community garden Mapesbury Dell, on Cricklewood Broadway, designer sailing on the Welsh Harp reservoir. between homes in Hoveden Road Emily Proctor with a "teak root" table Leisure and the arts: there is a Cineworld multiplex cinema at Staples 3; annual travelcard £1,424) are on the Corner, while The Tricycle Theatre in jubilee line (15 minutes to Bond Street); Kilburn, a leading fringe venue, also has THANKS to reader Col in Cricklewood is on Thameslink with a cinema. Virgin Active on Cricklewood Greener who suggested trains to Farringdon (18 minutes). Lane and the Manor Health Club on rl covering Cricklewood via Council: the boundaries ofthree coun­ Cricklewood Broadway offer private Facebook. If you have an area you cils meet in Cricklewood. In Conserva­ swimming pools. There's a council­ would like us to feature, tweet us tive controlled Barnet, band D council owned pool at Swiss Cottage. @homesproperty tax for 2013/14 is £1,416.20, in Labour- . Travel: Willesden Green (Zone 2; annual controlled Camden it is £1,324.48, and travelcard £1 ,216) and Dollis Hill (Zone What do you like about in Brent, which is also Labour-control­ Cricklewood? Have your say led, it is £1,361.84. Ahead of the game: Zadie Smith used __ .__ at ESHomesAndProperty Cricklewood for literary inspiration Photographs: Graham Hussey To find a home in Cricklewood, visit: llo•esandpa-operiJ'.co.all/cdclllewood

£450,000 £749,950 £399,950 A TWO-BEDROOM flat on the top floor of a A FOUR-BEDROOM house in Larch Road, NW2, THIS three-storey period house near Cricklewood A NEWLY REFURBISHED two-bedroom flat within conversion in Teignmouth Road, close to recently refurbished with a bright loft room and train station in Chichele Road, NW2, has been a classic period conversion in Fordwych Road, . Through KFH. modern kitchen. Through camerons Stiff & eo. converted into nine studio flats. Through Foxtons. Cricklewood. Through Greene & Co. • Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/teignmouth • Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/larch • Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/chlchele • Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/fordwych