Decorating Roland Gardens

Roland Gardens is a handsome residential street in South Kensington, running between Old Brompton Road and Fulham Road, and developed in the 1870s and 1880s with red-brick Queen Anne-style terrace houses and mansion flats that reflect the architectural tastes of the later Victorian period. The street is named after the medieval French legend of Roland, a naming convention common in the speculative developments of the Kensington area during this era. Roland Gardens sits within a dense neighbourhood of high-quality residential streets and benefits from its proximity to the museums of Exhibition Road and the gardens of Brompton Cemetery.

The red-brick and terracotta facades of Roland Gardens are typical of the Queen Anne Revival style popular in South Kensington, and care must be taken to use compatible masonry paints on any rendered sections while allowing the brick elevations to breathe naturally. Timber sash windows and ornate entrance porticos with decorative mouldings are characteristic features requiring specialist painting attention.