AT A WINDOW table in Starbucks, a mother, daughter and grandmother are having an animated discussion in Yiddish, occasionally slipping into English. Beside them a three-month-old baby smiles at a group of young Americans before turning his attention to a blonde woman fresh from her Pilates class. Outside, the well-heeled are walking past the Tesco Express to shop at Panzer, a delightful deli where the fruit and veg display looks like a Dutch still life and you pay £1.95 for a Savoy cabbage. Welcome to St John’s Wood, one of London’s favourite village neighbourhoods, tucked in a northwest corner of the capital just north of Regent’s Park.

Although the area is the home of Lord’s Cricket Ground, Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles made their recordings, and Kate Moss, these are not the greatest attractions to residents. Convenient Tube links, the International American School and plenty of greenery is why the world’s wealthy are flocking here to raise their children and push up house prices.

The cost of buying here has soared by 60 per cent since the Jubilee Line extension to Docklands was completed at the end of 1999, taking you from St John’s Wood to Canary Wharf in under 30 minutes. House prices here have vastly outperformed the rest of the borough. According to Hometrack, the property data company, the average price of a home in St John’s Wood is now just short of £533,000, against £451,000 in the rest of the City of Westminster. The average London price is £282,500.

The seriously moneyed, however, pay up to £25 million for a Victorian villa on sought-after streets such as Avenue Road or Acacia Road, where almost every property has a 4x4 in the driveway. Farther down the pecking order, international alpha parents compete to secure a more ordinary three-bedroom house for £800,000 to £3.5 million. Even a two-bedroom flat sets you back £1 million if it’s in a luxury block.

It is not surprising then that the Winkworth office swept the board at the estate agents’ end-of-year awards. “St John’s Wood almost sells itself,” says Richard Woolf, who co-bought the Winkworth franchise 25 years ago. “Tube links to the City and Docklands make it ideal for City professionals. Regent’s Park, the fashionable High Street and the predominantly residential nature of the area are attractive to families.”

St John’s Wood was once part of the Great Forest of Middlesex. It was named after the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, who took over the land from the Knights Templar in 1323. The area became Crown land after the Reformation but remained mostly agricultural until the end of the 18th century. Building began in 1809 but did not follow the same pattern as the rest of London. As the architectural historian Sir John Summerson noted: “It was the first part of London to abandon the terrace house for the semi-detached villa.”

Many of the original houses are long gone, having succumbed to bombs during the Second World War and the building of new roads and railways. The area is now dominated by handsome mansion blocks rather than houses. North Gate Mansions on Prince Albert Road is a Victorian marvel and has lovely views over the park.

But the biggest demand is still for houses. It is a sign of the wealth flooding into this area that many of the large houses that were carved up into flats in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when nobody could afford such big homes, are now being turned back into single dwellings. Those on popular streets such as Hamilton Terrace are now much more valuable as a single home than as several flats.

The streets of St John’s Wood are not so much paved with gold as lined with skips. Homeowners are extending up, out and down in their attempts to turn large homes into palatial mansions. The Big Basement Company seems particularly busy here.

In the 1960s most of St John’s Wood was designated a conservation area. The neighbourhood is almost uniformly middle-class. Even the council estates are largely privately owned, having been snapped up under right-to-buy. On an average weekday morning most of the buzz on the quiet residential streets comes from the staff tending to high-maintenance homes.

Regent’s Park evolved from the plans of John Nash, of the Nash terraces, as a parkland for “the wealthy and the good”. Leaving aside “the good”, this neighbouring patch of London greenery still serves that purpose today.

FACT FILE

Where is it?
North of Regent’s Park in northwest London, within earshot of the zoo. St John’s Wood is a Jubilee Line station and the council is Westminster.
What’s it famous for?
Lord’s Cricket Ground and Abbey Road Studios.
Who lives there?
Kate Moss and the seriously wealthy from around the world.
Where do they lunch?
At Sofra, a Middle Eastern restaurant celebrating its 25th anniversary. Carluccio’s is also popular.
Can I afford it?
You can pay up to £1 million for a two-bedroom flat. A seven-bedroom Italianate Victorian villa might cost you £25 million.
What about the kids?
The American International School is a big draw.

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