41, Chelsea Square SW3 is a Grade II listed building in the Kensington and Chelsea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 6 July 1981. House. 2 related planning applications.

41, Chelsea Square SW3

WRENN ID
long-lintel-swallow
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Kensington and Chelsea
Constituency
Chelsea and Fulham MP: Ben Coleman (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
6 July 1981
Type
House
Address
41, Chelsea Square SW3, SW3 6LH
OS grid reference
TQ 269 781
Coordinates
51.48811, -0.17365
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

41 Chelsea Square is a private house built in 1934 by Oliver Hill for Freda, Lady Forbes. The house is designed in a neo-Georgian style and features white-painted stucco. It has a square plan with a cruciform upper storey, two storeys, and a semi-basement. The low-pitched tiled roofs have pedimented gables and two tall chimney stacks. A flight of steps with decorative fretwork railing and a lamp standard leads to the central entrance, which is topped with a bracketed cornice-hood. The sash windows have glazing bars, with segmental-headed windows in the semi-basement and square-headed windows in the upper storey. The symmetry of the main facade is varied by different window shapes and types on the ground floor, including segmental-headed windows with shutters, square-headed windows, and round windows. The south-facing main facade features an oval oculus in the gable, which echoes the pediment of the adjacent No. 40, creating a picturesque ensemble.

Inside, the house retains its original staircase hall with a deep coved ceiling. The open-well staircase rises five steps, turns ninety degrees, and continues to a projecting, curved landing, with each step treated as a separate horizontal motif and wide-spaced twisted balusters. The staircase to the basement retains its original fretwork balustrading, though it is reversed. The entrance hall leads to the dining room, which was designed to accommodate Lady Forbes's Aubusson tapestries and features a jib door and an early 18th-century-style fireplace. The entrance hall and living room were remodeled with paired dentiled cornices by Sir Nigel Boakes, who also added a charming double-height garden room in neo-Gothick style, designed by Chapman Taylor around 1980. On the first floor, the principal bedroom retains its original high cove that incorporates the gable oculus.

Local climate

41, Chelsea Square SW3 sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • Sale history — 1 transaction since 2000
  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. 66 and 68, Old Church Street SW3 Grade II 30 m
  2. 40, Chelsea Square SW3 Grade II* 52 m
  3. 64, Old Church Street SW3 Grade II* 66 m
  4. Bolton Lodge Grade II 71 m
  5. Forecourt Wall to Sloane House Grade II 76 m
  6. Sloane House Grade II 95 m
  7. 125, Old Church Street SW3 Grade II 97 m
  8. 117, Old Church Street SW3 Grade II 129 m
  9. 23, Mulberry Walk SW3 Grade II 160 m
  10. Fire Station Grade II 169 m