Formerly a bit dodgy and downmarket, Kilburn and its neighbours have definitely come up in the world...

Over the years London's professional middle classes have developed a mental image of the capital which, like those lurid medieval maps of the world, has borders defined by alarming monsters or strange foreign folk with two heads and eyes in their foreheads.

Notting Hill was once a dubious neighbourhood at the very edge of that mental map; so too was Brixton. And until recently Kilburn was also beyond the pale, an area marked by the twin terrors of the 'loony left' Brent Council (dreadful schools!) and a population of Afro-Caribbean, Asian and (so the story went) hard-drinking, Irish immigrants who liked a good brawl and were somehow inseparable from the 'Troubles'.

West Hampstead across the Kilburn High Road was in Camden and was, if by name alone, respectable; leafy Brondesbury Park, although Brent, was also acceptable.

But Kilburn was not for the fashionable or the fastidious. Regarded as dodgy and downmarket, it wans't the kind of place to move to if wine bars were a priority and the place was thought to be distressingly empty of decent restaurants and noted cultural institutions.

None of this was very true, of course, but my how the perception has certainly changed! The Irish, though many have now gone home to the roaring Celtic Tiger, have, in recent years, become almost trendy, and London's house-hunters have finally woken up to the fact that Kilburn is enviably well placed, has excellent transport links, and has a good stock of Victorian and Edwardian properties at prices less daunting than in nearby Maida Vale, St Johns Wood and Hampstead.

Such has been the rise of NW6 over the past decade that the name Kilburn, which in the past was synonymous with NW6, is in danger of being edged out by more alluring monikers - West Hampstead and Queen's Park being the main contenders, both names evoking the kind of leafy delights that Kilburn, well, doesn't.

NW6 includes Kilburn, Queen's Park, part of Kensal Rise (though not Kensal Green, which is NW10), and Brondesbury Park, and on the other side of the Kilburn High Road, West Hampstead, Fortune Green and South Hampstead.

Kilburn, once known as County Kilburn, such was the strength of the Irish community here, is defined by the Kilburn High Road, a street that provided Ian Dury with the name of his first band ('Kilburn and the High Roads') - though Dury himself was a lot closer to life in Essex than Quex Road.

Kilburn High Road train station is at one end (Kilburn Park tube is across the road) and Kilburn tube station at the other, on the border of NW2.

The High Road, gradually undergoing gentrification, is a bustling and cheerful thoroughfare with the usual retailing suspects - M&S, Sainsburys, Boots, Woolies, and, a recent arrival, Cafe Nero - as well as the cultural landmark of the Tricycle Theatre, which includes an art gallery and a cinema.

There are also some well-established Irish pubs for those in search of a decent pint of Guinness and a session of Irish music - Biddy Mulligan's, The Cock, Power's - as well as trendier bars that look like they've strayed in from Islington or Camden Town (Eg: the ZD bar).

If you're looking for signs of a neighbourhood on the up, the increasing number of restaurants and gastro pubs such as The Black Lion tell their own story. Fried quails eggs and shaved parmesan is a long way from breakfast fry-ups and bacon and cabbage - though the Lion's magnificent period interior ensures some continuty with the old days.

On that score, keep an eye out as well for the fabulous Kilburn State Building - a magnificent Art Deco cinema designed by George Coles, which in 1937 was the largest ever built in England.

These days, it's Mecca Bingo, but it's still a local landmark and looks impressive lit up at night - its 120 foot tower was modelled on the Empire State Building (nice idea for a film - 'King Kong Comes To Kilburn').

Kilburn High Road itself is something of a border separating West Hampstead to the north east from Kilburn to the south west. Off the High Road are a number of main arteries - Iverson Road, Willseden Lane, Quex Road, Brondesbury Road, Belsize Road, and Kilburn Park Road.

Willeseden Lane has a small parade of shops. On the right hand side, from Kilburn High Road, you find yourself in the Waterloo (or North Kilburn) conservation area - this includes Buckley Road, Callcott Road, Torbay Road, Dyne Road, Plympton Road and part of Willseden Lane itself (144-160).

This cluster of late Victorian properties, notable for ornate mouldings set against red brickwork, is a clearly defined neighbourhood. It is handily served by Kilburn tube station and Brondesbury railway station.

On the Willesden Lane Cemetery side of Willesden Lane, you're in streets of Victorian terraces - among them Aldershot Road, Kennilworth Road, and Tennyson Road, the last of which runs along the border of Willesden Lane Cemetery (25 acres; Arthur Orton, the Tichborne Claimant, is buried here in an unmarked grave).

Brondesbury Road and Brondesbury Villas have tall Victorian houses, many converted, and are part of the Kilburn conservation area. On the far side of Brondesbury Road, across the railway tracks, is the Kilburn Park conservation area - stucco and stock brick villas from 1861-73 of ornate Italianate design.

There's a sprinkling of council flats around the conservation area south of Carlton Vale in the small triangle completed by Malvern Road and Kilburn Park Road. This brings you to the very edge of the NW6/W9 border.

Not a lot of green space in this neighbourhood. There's Kilburn Grange Park, off the High Road, but this, strictly speaking, is West Hampstead. Queen's Park is just down the road. Depending on where you're located - Kilburn High Road and Brondesbury railway stations; Kilburn Park and Queen's Park tube stations (Bakerloo line).

Queen's Park and Kensal Rise are generally regarded as one area and lie on either side of the lovely park - Salusbury Road, which borders Willesden Lane Cemetery opposite Tennyson Road - where Queen's Park really begins.

Salusbury Road is a busy and increasingly trendy and sophisticated thoroughfare with cafes, restaurants, wine bars, shops, Kilburn library, and on Lonsdale Road just off it, an organic café (Hugo's). Queen's Park tube is also here, just across the Brondesbury Road.

The network of streets between Salusbury Road and the park include Windermere Avenue, Hopefield Avenue, Montrose Avenue and Kingswood Avenue - these have Victorian and Edwardian terraces and some more recent modern stock.

On the other side of the park, which is Kensal Rise, are more salubrious streets bounded by Chevening Road, Chamberlayne Road (NW10), Harvist Road and Milman Road.

These roads have mainly three and four bedroom late-Victorian and Edwardian semis and terraces (1895-1905), for the most part houses, though with some conversion flats.

The park is the real draw here and has ensured that prices in this neck of the woods are steep. It extends to some 30 acres and includes six all-weather tennis courts, a pitch-and-putt course, an ornamental garden, a woodland walk, a marvellous children's playground with paddling pool, and a cafe. Queen's Park Tube station (Bakerloo line).
This attractive, leafy enclave, which borders NW2 and NW10, is separated from Queen's Park/Kensal Rise by the train tracks that run alongside Chevening Road.

Walk up Chevening Road and at the junction of Salusbury Road turn left, cross the tracks and you're on Brondesbury Park (the road). The streets off this are Brondesbury Park, whose borders are Sidmouth Road, The Avenue and Willseden Lane - although Cavendish Road, Christchurch Road and Mowbray Road are across the Lane.

Manor House Drive, the former site of the old manor house, has large, detached double-fronted 1930s houses with generous gardens, up to eight bedrooms and enough room in the driveway for six cars - prices, needless to say, are appropriate to people who can afford six cars.

Elsewhere in Brondesbury Park there are large late-Victorian houses, many with roomy conversion flats. On Honeyman Close there's a contemporary gated community complete with an indoor heated swimming pool, leisure complex and landscaped communal gardens.

Brondesbury Park continues into NW2, where you'll find the salubrious Mapesbury conservation area.

Brondesbury Park - half an acre with a children's playground to cater for the 4-8 year olds. Brondesbury and Brondesbury Park stations. Kilburn tube station (Jubilee line).
Depending on your vantage point, West and South Hampstead are either Kilburn's posher and more established neighbours or the poor man's Hampstead cut off from the real thing by the busy Finchley Road.

The area lies between Kilburn High Road and the Finchley Road and is bounded by Belsize Road on one side and Fortune Green on the other.

Property here is mostly Victorian terraces and semis (generally converted), mansion blocks and purpose-built apartments. There are also lots of contemporary conversions - stylishly open-plan - and even some loft living (eg: the school conversion on Linstead Street).

For the most part this is archetypal young professional territory and there are apartments aplenty with stripped floorboards, Ikea furniture and all manner of steel kitchen appliances that are rarely pressed into service.

Mansion blocks can be found on the streets running between Fortune Green Road and Finchley Road and there's a large new-build development on Lymington Road (The Pulse). There are also some substantial houses in this neighbourhood, around the tennis courts.

Off the Iverson Road, in the streets off Kilburn Grange Park are Victorian terraces and semis (many conversions), and there's also a smattering of local authority property.

The young and the restless keep the rentals market busy and the main thoroughfares have all the coffee shops, furniture stores, trendy restaurants and gastro pubs your heart could desire - mainly on West End Lane.

Further retailing excitement can be found at the O2 shopping centre near Finchley Road tube station. This has a Sainsbury's, a multiplex cinema, a vast Books etc., bars, restaurants, a gym - plenty to drain your bank account and bring joy to the heart of your credit card provider.

Kilburn Grange Park has children's play areas, tennis courts, and games areas. Prices in this neighbourhood tend to be lower as you approach Kilburn. Kilburn and West Hampstead tube stations (Jubilee); West Hampstead Thameslink and Finchely Road & Frognal stations.
Those in search of family homes should point themselves in the direction of Fortune Green, where they'll find decent four and five bedroom homes in the streets around Hampstead Cemetery, and smaller three and four bed houses on adjoining streets.

Mill Hill Lane is the main thoroughfare, where you'll find wine bars, restaurants, pubs, and shops.

Fortune Green has an unfenced three acre park with children's play area and separate dog-free area.

Hampstead Cemetery extends to 26 acres and offers a pleasant respite from the urban jungle - one for the pub quiz: Lord Lister, who invented antiseptic surgery, is buried here.

Kilburn, West Hampstead and Finchley Road tube stations (Jubilee); West Hampstead Thameslink and Finchely Road & Frognal stations.
Cross West End Lane and you enter South Hampstead, roughly demarcated by Belsize Road, Finchley Road, and Broadhurst Gardens. This is the Maryon Wilson Estate, which includes Broadhurst Gardens, Compayne Gardens, Canfield Gardens, Fairhazel Gardens, and surrounding streets.

This is a popular conservation area with a mix of properties - large and very expensive houses, conversion flats, mansion blocks, the occasional mews, and some new-build.

Abbey Road is here - yes, that Abbey Road, with the zebra crossing still in place, though to see it you'll have to cross the border into NW8. Try not to run over the numerous Japanese tourists taking snaps.

Abbey Road, NW6 and the streets off it - Priory Road, Abbot's Place, etc - sound churchy because this was where the original Kilburn Priory, a medieval convent, was located.

This is the oldest part of Kilburn - later the Bell Inn was established in 1714, after which Kilburn, believe it or not, became a fashionable spa where weary travellers trundling up and down the Edgware Road took their ease.

Not much survives of this former life - the streets around here long ago gave way to council developments (the Kilburn Vale Estate), though there are also some streets of tall Victorian terraces (Priory Terrace), mansion blocks, new build (Regent's Plaza on Greville Road) and the occasional mews.

Tubes include Kilburn, West Hampstead and Swiss Cottage (Jubilee line), and Finchley Road (Jubilee and Metropolitan).

Not a lot in the immediate neighbourhood, but you're not a million miles from Primrose Hill and Regent's Park. Finchley Road and Swiss Cottage tube stations (Jubilee), South Hampstead and Kilburn High Road stations.

Michael O'Flynn

© Find A Property 2000-2007