A MEWS HOUSE and MORE

The MEWS as PART of BRITISH – and ROYAL – HISTORY

A mews is a small street or yard built behind a city's grandest squares and terraces. They are often cobbled (the street is paved with smooth fist-sized stones).

It is commonly understood that a mews was a house, or even an entire street, which was designed to hold stables and carriages, with tack (equipment) rooms and accommodation for the horses’ grooms. But what isn’t often realised is that originally a mews was a cage where birds of prey were kept during their moulting season (when they weren’t paraded and flown by their wealthy owners). In the 16th Century the famous English king, Henry VIIIth (1491- 1547), started a trend when he converted his Charing Cross mews to stables. Society copied him, and the name ‘mews’ came to have a totally different meaning.

You may hear other words used to describe mews houses. They are often called a ‘pied-á-terre’ (a bolt-hole), a ’cul-de-sac’ (a road with only one end, making them very safe) and ‘bijou’ (compact and elegant, or jewel-like). All are French terms, and are reminders of the contribution that the French made to English life after the invasion of 1066.

WHY a MEWS BECAME a MUCH-SOUGHT-AFTER HOME – OFTEN for the RICH and FAMOUS

In 1908 the Small Holdings and Allotments Act (a change in the law) made it very hard to buy land in the most popular areas of London. The population then realised that mews properties were ideal for conversion into terraced cottages. So drastic transformations followed. Out went the straw and stable-boys. And in came the great and the good citizens of the metropolis! This was first done at Street Mews in the Mayfair area of London.

Successful professionals from the City of London often choose to live in a mews. So they no longer house the poor and humble. Indeed they have often provided homes for world-famous people including film-star Michael Caine, crime novelist Agatha Christie, pop-stars Noel Gallagher and Amy Winehouse, and film director Guy Ritchie (pop-star Madonna’s most-recent ex-husband). Indeed the owners can reveal that a Hollywood star has been shown around this Leinster Mews home!

The nature of the ‘cul-de-sac’ means that mews homes are tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life. So they are quiet, safe, secure, and often have parking. They are popular little enclaves and usually there is a real sense of community amongst the neighbours. And mews homes all tend to be very individual because the space within them is flexible. No two are identical and they all therefore make a unique personal statement about their occupants.

LOCATIONS:

Mews properties are found several well-to-do areas of London, mostly in Bayswater, Belgravia, Bloomsbury, Chelsea, Holland Park, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Marylebone, Mayfair, Notting Hill, Pimlico and Westminster. You can find them in other cities too, invariably in places that were the wealthy zones throughout the 20th Century.

More information about Mews Houses