Belsize Residents Association Information

Belsize Village is focused on the junction of Belsize Lane with the pedestrianised Belsize Terrace, built on the site of Belsize Farm. The name Belsize Village was an invention of mid-Victorian developers. Daniel Tidey was the builder who built the stucco houses in Belsize Park that give it its character and because of this it was known at one time as Tideytown. Tidey went bankrupt in 1869 and died in the Belsize Tavern a few years later. William Willett senior, one of the progenitors of the garden suburb concept, swiftly moved in and took up the project. He built the first shops, originally called Belsize Park Terraces, in a style that has been described as 'standard speculator's Italianate'. Willett gave up some of his land in 1876 to widen Upper Belsize Terrace (now Belsize Terrace) and create a village green. Belsize Village later evolved into a service zone for the grander homes in neighbouring streets, with a set of mews for servants and horses.