| Usborne
Developments Ltd was founded in 1980. By 1985 it was building about 80
houses and flats a year. It began when a developer, Francis Lane, who
wanted a cash-strong partner met David Frame, chairman of the grain
merchants, Usborne & Sons (London) which wanted to diversify. Mr
Lanes's firm Baird and Lane, formed in 1971 by ex-Bovis men to carry out
residential developments in London and the home counties, joined
Usborne, and the first scheme consisted of 18 houses at clock Tower
Mews, Islington, which was not only commercially successful but managed
to create homes in a small area with a feeling of space and mews-like
charm. Through its architects, Moxley and Frankl, Usborne has now completed a development of 40 houses of six different types and eight flats of four different types at Herald's place, Kennington, a mews development on a site on the corner of two roads. The large variety in designs is the result both of wanting diversity and needing to fit the houses in. To build garages or car spaces would have cramped the area. But it was felt necessary to build underground-- a community garage with an electronically controlled door, which left great scope for the mews court and landscaping. Almost all the units at Herald's place had been sold, leaving re-sales as the only possibility of ownership. Usborne's new development now being built, is at Shrewsbury Mews, just over one acre off Chepstow Road, Bayswater. It is already attracting interest, mainly from young professional people, as at Herald's Place. Through an elegant archway, the mews has 30 houses and maisonettes with garages at ground |
level. The one bedroom maisonettes and houses are
compact, costing £62,500 to £87,000, and there are more spacious 3
bedroom houses, each with two bathrooms, at £115,000. The developments have managed to create a spacious environment in dense urban schemes and the next in line is a one-acre site near the Oval. (later named Usborne Mews). Information edited from an article in the Times Newspaper. NB. Usborne Grain is an offshoot of Usborne & Son founded around 1820 by Thomas Usborne   Usborne Mews |