Decorating Bute Street

Bute Street is a short residential street in South Kensington running between Fulham Road and Onslow Gardens, part of the Onslow Estate developed in the mid-Victorian period with handsome red and yellow brick terraced houses. The street benefits from its proximity to South Kensington's world-class museums and has long been popular with professional families seeking a quieter address within easy reach of the Brompton Road and the Underground. Its period streetscape, with original iron railings and mature plane trees, is protected as part of the Onslow Square Conservation Area.

Properties on Bute Street are predominantly red and yellow stock brick with white-painted stucco window surrounds and door cases, requiring a disciplined palette of period whites and creams for any exterior repainting. Interior schemes often involve the restoration of original cornicing, plasterwork roses and panelled doors that are characteristic of the Onslow Estate's mid-Victorian builder-pattern houses.