Hampstead Village with its vistas, twist and turns have been popular and fashionable since its beginnings as a spa in the eighteenth century and since then just about every writer, artist, and intellectual seems to have lived here.

In recent years, new residents are now more likely to be wealthy professionals and celebrities from all walks of life.

One of the main attractions of the Hampstead Village is its retention of a old street plan. Houses of all shapes can be found in the heart of the village, from Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian times, and the roads they are on can be wide and inviting or narrow and secluded.

Going down the hill to Belsize Park, with its vast stucco-faced houses and converted apartments attract with charm, period features and double height ceilings.

Swiss Cottage, now a busy junction connecting central London with M1 with its redeveloped park and sports centre together with luxury block of flats to go beside Basil Spence's 1964 library.

The parts of NW3 between Belsize and Hampstead and the Hampstead Heath contain rows of Victorian streets with Regency properties, largely divided into flats with plethora of shops , cafes and restaurants. Although dominated by the Free Hospital, easy access to the Heath and transport connection to the City via Hampstead Heath station makes this a popular spot for buyers and renters alike.

Hampstead Heath

The 791 acres of Hampstead Heath are among London's most popular open spaces.  The Heath is the source of many of London's old rivers and it still has 28 natural ponds, many of which are dedicated to swimming and fishing.

Closer to Hampstead itself is the Vale of Health, a preferred home to Hampstead's literary celebrities.

Golders Hill Park is nearby, with tennis courts, play areas and a small animal enclosure and  aviary.

Close to Highgate on the Heath is Kenwood. The house's last private owner was the Earl of Iveagh, who bequeathed his home and his art collection to the nation in 1927, and the works of Reynolds, Gainsborough, Franz Hals and Vermeer vie with Robert Adam's sumptuous sky blue and gold library.

Very popular Kenwood open-air concerts happen every July and August accompanied by Fireworks.

More popular properties open to the public in NW3 include Burgh House (1703) in New End Square NW3 - and the Freud Museum in Maresfield Gardens NW3, his last home and lived in by his daughter Anna until her death in 1982.

At the heart of Hampstead Village can be found the Everyman, once a Victorian community centre but since 1933 one of London's great cinema clubs.

Finchley Road has its own cinematic masterpiece, an Art Deco Odeon, and recently built O2 Centre with array of shops, Gym and large multi screen cinema.

Hampstead's other great claim to fame lies in its Restaurants and Public's Houses -these include the Spaniards, the Bull & Bush, the White Bear, the Flask, the Freemasons, the Holly Bush, the Magdala and the Washington.

Transport
The area is well catered for public transport- there are also two major A-roads of NW3 (A41 and A502) while north-south tube lines in Belsize Park and Hampstead Northern Line (Edgware branch) and Swiss Cottage and Finchley Road stations on the Jubilee Line, the latter also appearing on the Metropolitan. Complementing these is the North London Line (Richmond - North Woolwich), an above ground railway that cuts west-east through here and calling at the stations of Finchley Road & Frognal, Hampstead Heath and Gospel Oak.

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