Henry Davidson

'In 1853 Henry Davidson agreed to exchange his lease for lives of the Rosslyn House estate for a 99-year building lease, which was drawn up in 1855. Probably fearing that the market would be saturated by building on the neighbouring Maryon Wilson land, Davidson hoped to demolish Rosslyn House and cover the whole estate with detached and semidetached houses, like those in Belsize Park and with access from Haverstock Hill. Progress was slower than expected, partly because of competition in Hampstead town and Belsize Park and partly because of reluctance to build above Hampstead Junction Railway's tunnel. In 1859 Davidson sold Rosslyn House and the south-western part of the estate to Charles Henry Lardner Woodd, who kept it as a country house until his death in 1893. On the rest of the estate Thurlow, Lyndhurst, and Eldon roads and Windsor Terrace had been laid out by 1862 and c. 40 houses built by 1864, mostly fronting Haverstock Hill. (fn. 109) Demand for the houses, of similar value to those in Belsize Park, rose during the 1860s and more had been built by 1870.