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Maida Vale/Little Venice
Maida Vale & Little Venice
Background
Maida Vale lies just west of Marylebone and St. John's Wood. It remained mostly undamaged by World War II and many of the magnificent mansions and terraces common to the area date back to the 1840s and 1850s.
Maida Vale and Little Venice form a wholly residential district, spacious, well placed and decidedly popular. This corner lies in the angle to the north of the Harrow Road and west of the Edgware Road/Maida Vale (the road). Maida Vale lies just west of Marylebone and St. John's Wood. Colorful houseboats hung with tubs of flowers glide through the canal in the triangular, leafy oasis of Little Venice. The distinctive, pale-stuccoes houses with pilasters and tall handsome windows provide excellent views of the canal. The area is much sough after by writers and artists.
Little Venice
Bloomfield Road and Maida Avenue residents have homes made magic (and even more expensive) by the presence of water. The canal runs between the two, widening by the Warwick Road Bridge - where it branches - into a young lake with willow-pattern islet and waterside public gardens and walk.
Local History
Maida Vale takes its name from the Battle of Maida in southern Italy where a British Force defeated the French in 1806. Shortly after the first Hero of Maida Inn was opened at the Edgware Road and neighborhood first called Maida Hill and later Maida Vale spreads up around it.
The tree-lined section of Regent's Canal running through Little Venice make it a highly sought after residential area right next to Maida Vale. Both Lord Byron and Robert Browning have compared it to the Italian city for which it is named, although the name did not come into common usage until after World War II. Little Venice is home to the Rembrandt Gardens, named so in 1975 to mark Amsterdam and Westminster's link to the Dutch capital. It remained mostly undamaged by World War II and many of the magnificent mansions and terraces common to the area date back to 1840s and 1850s.
Architecture
Maida Vale is a residential district, spacious, well placed and decidedly popular. The pretty neighbourhood around the canal is knows as Little Venice. The large cream houses built along Warwick Avenue and fronting the canal in the 1840's and 1850's set the tone for the area. These houses are still the area's biggest and smartest. Later building confirmed the spacious feel, with wide avenues, large terraced houses and mansion flats - some with large shared gardens behind.
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