3, The Grove, Highgate

{{short description|Grade II* listed house in the London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom}}

{{Infobox historic site

| name = 3, The Grove, Highgate

| image = 3 The Grove, Highgate, London.jpg

| caption = "Nos. 1–6, the finest group in Highgate"

| type = House

| locmapin = London

| map_relief = yes

| coordinates = {{coord|51.5697|-0.1519|display=inline,title}}

| location = Highgate, Camden, London

| area =

| built = c.1688

| architect =

| architecture =

| owner = Privately owned

| designation1 = Grade II*

| designation1_offname = Number 3 and attached railings, wall and lamp

| designation1_date = 10 June 1954

| designation1_number = 1378978

}}

3, The Grove, Highgate, in the London Borough of Camden, is a 17th-century house built by William Blake. In the 19th century it was home of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge; in the 20th, the novelist J. B. Priestley; and in the 21st, the model Kate Moss. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

In the 17th century, Highgate was a hamlet to the north of London situated in the midst of the extensive Middlesex estate of the Bishops of London.{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=402}} Nos. 1–6, The Grove, Highgate were built in around 1688 by a City of London merchant, William Blake.{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=409}} Constructed in the gardens of a large mansion called Dorchester House, the speculative development was intended by Blake to fund a charity school he had established in the main building.{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol17/pt1/pp77-94|title=Nos 1–6 The Grove (site of Dorchester House Garden)|publisher=British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|access-date=12 February 2022}}

In 1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, moved to the Highgate home of his doctor, James Gillman, seeking treatment for his addiction to opium. In 1823 the Gillmans moved to No. 3, The Grove, installing Coleridge in a suite of rooms on the top floor.{{efn|The National Trust owns a painting of Coleridge’s “Sky Parlour” at No.3 by the illustrator George Scharf. The painting is held at Coleridge Cottage.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/253231|title=The Sky Parlour occupied by Samuel Taylor Coleridge at No.3 The Grove|publisher=National Trust|access-date=12 February 2022}}}}{{cite web|url=https://www.friendsofcoleridge.com/images/Coleridges_Life_in_Highgate.pdf|title=Coleridge's Life in Highgate|publisher=Friends of Coleridge Society|access-date=12 February 2022}} He remained there until his death in 1834;{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/samuel-taylor-coleridge-n6|title=Samuel Taylor Coleridge|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=12 February 2022}} writing, revising and republishing earlier works such as Kubla Khan, receiving visitors and becoming lauded as "the Sage of Highgate".{{Cite web|url=https://www.coleridgememorial.org.uk/walking/highgate/|title=Highgate|publisher=Coleridge Memorial Trust|access-date=12 February 2022}}

In 1931 the house was bought by J. B. Priestley,{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/j-b-priestley/|title=Priestley, J. B. (1894–1984)|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=12 February 2022}} using the profits from his novels, which had brought literary and worldly success since the publication of The Good Companions in 1929.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-good-companions-by-jb-priestley-book-of-a-lifetime-9492749.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006065952/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-good-companions-by-jb-priestley-book-of-a-lifetime-9492749.html |archive-date=2014-10-06 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|first=David|last=Nobbs|title=The Good Companions by JB Priestley|date=5 June 2014|newspaper=The Independent}} He engaged Seely & Paget to reconstruct the house{{NHLE|num=1378978|desc=3, The Grove and attached railings, wall and lamp|grade=II*|access-date=11 February 2022}} and the landscape architects Mawson's to redesign the garden.{{Cite web|url=https://archiveweb.cumbria.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=WDB+76/122|title=Mawson and Partners, Landscape Architects|publisher=Cumbria Archive|website=archiveweb.cumbria.gov.uk|access-date=12 February 2022}}

In the 21st century, No.3 was home to the model, Kate Moss.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/may/26/kate-moss-coleridge-xanadu|title=Kate Moss moves into Coleridge's Xanadu|first=Richard|last=Holmes|date=26 May 2011|newspaper=The Guardian}} Moss sold the house in 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.marcusparfitt.com/properties/298|title=No. 3, The Grove|publisher=Marcus Parfitt Estate Agents|access-date=12 February 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/11/kate-moss-sells-highgate-mansion-for-11500000-to-move|first=Louise|last=Griffin|title=Kate Moss sells Highgate mansion to move to Cotswolds|publisher=Metro News|date=11 February 2022}}

Architecture and description

Bridget Cherry, in her 2002 revised London 4: North edition of the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describes Nos. 1–6, The Grove, as "the finest group in Highgate".{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=409}} The row was originally built as three pairs of semi-detached houses,{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=409}} of two storeys with dormers above. Most have been greatly altered since.{{efn|As an example, No. 5 was completely rebuilt in the early 1930s.}} No. 3 is now of three storeys, with a basement and a slate roof. The construction material is red brick.

No. 3 is a Grade II* listed building, the listing including the low wall which fronts the house, and its wrought iron railings and lamp.