Hampstead is home away from home: long popular with artists, Hampstead Village is a rustic retreat from London's bustle

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 4, 1995 | by Kathi Diamant

My guidebook said that Hampstead Village is the best place in London to wear sunglasses, smoke Gauloises and contemplate love and death over a double espresso. Although I did none of the above, a two-week stay convinced me that Hampstead is the best place in London, period.

Only four miles north of central London, Hampstead is a perfectly preserved Georgian village, a peaceful respite from the noisy city. Tree-lined sidewalks wind along cobblestone lanes. Grand mansions and pretty cottages snuggle between posh shops, pubs, bohemian cafes, churches and international restaurants.

The leafy village on the hill overlooking London has been popular with the literati for centuries. Throughout the village, blue oval plaques on various houses will tell you which famous person lived there and when. Former and current residents make up a veritable Who's Who: Charles Dickens, Florence Nightingale, John Constable, William Blake, H.G. Wells, D.H. Lawrence, Henry Moore and Piet Mondrian are just a few of the past residents. More recent ones have included Rex Harrison, Peter O'Toole, Jim Henson, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Sting and Boy George.

The house at 20 Maresfield Gardens where Sigmund Freud lived, worked and died after his escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938 is a museum. It still feels lived-in, with Freud's original furniture and personal effects left just as they were in 1939. The heart of the museum is the study and library, where you can find the famous couch and large collection of art and strange toys that once belonged to the father of psychoanalysis.

The Keats House is worth a visit, too. The great Romantic poet John Keats loved his next-door neighbor Fanny Brawne, but he died of consumption before they could marry. After his death, their two lovely Regency cottages were combined into one house which now contains their relics, letters and various books and manuscripts. In the front yard, a small brass plaque identifies the plum tree that replaced the one under which Keats sat when he wrote "Ode to a Nightingale."

One of Hampstead's most colorful characters was the highwayman Dick Turpin, who would escape the law by disappearing on horseback into the wilds of Hampstead Heath. The 800-acre city park retains an amazing amount of wilderness and is one of the best-loved parks in all London, a city of truly spectacular parks. The views from Parliament Hill, the highest point in the city, are magnificent: From one of the many wooden benches scattered throughout the park, you can see the Parliament buildings, the Tower of London, Old Bailey and other landmarks.

I stayed the entire two weeks at the Hampstead Village Guesthouse. Highly praised in guides to London's best bed-and-breakfast hotels, Hampstead Village is tucked away off quiet Pilgrim's Lane, which runs between the bustling High Street and the Heath.

Annemarie van der Meer, a transplant from Holland, opened her spacious three-story Victorian home to paying guests in the early 1980s. Since then, the eight bedrooms usually have been filled, if not with her own children and their friends, then with repeat visitors who couldn't imagine staying anywhere else. Built in 1872 as a farmhouse, it maintains a warm, homey atmosphere, with a decidedly bohemian flavor. Books, personal items and knickknacks are stacked to the ceiling. The bedroom doors lock only from the inside and several rooms share a bathroom. Two dogs and a cat live there, too.

But every room comes with a small refrigerator, an electric kettle, hair dryer, telephone, comfortable beds, lovely antiques, good reading lamps and a staggering range of books. Weather permitting, the full English breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried tomato and mushrooms, toast with preserves and good strong coffee is served outside in the back garden.

For those who prefer more formality in their lodgings, the 19-room Sandringham Hotel is a fine Victorian hotel with the feel of a stately home. Only 100 yards from the beginning of the heath and three minutes from the Hampstead Underground station, the Sandringham is highly recommended in most major guides. Another option is La Gaffe, built in 1734 as a shepherd's cottage, now a popular Italian restaurant and chic wine bar with 14 private rooms upstairs.

French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Indian and American restaurants line the streets. All meals were very good, but expensive. The practice of eating a large lunch at lower prices really pays off. Many of the pubs offer great deals with their "homemade specials" for $5 to $7, but stop serving by 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.

If you want to experience Hampstead Village but have only a day or just a few hours to spend, sign up for one of the Original London Walks. My favorite, the Old Hampstead Village Pub Walk, starts at 7 p.m. on Saturdays at the Hampstead Underground. Two-hour day tours also are scheduled on Sundays and Wednesdays.