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Photo: MrsEllacott, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A splendid Regency house with enormous gardens and woodlands. The gardens alone are worth the visit and are a superb example of 18th-century landscaping. On show at the house is art by masters such as Rembrandt, Turner, Reynolds and Vermeer, and the gardens have a very notable sculpture by Henry Moore. A regular program of outdoor opera takes place here every summer. Movie buffs will recognise Kenwood from Mansfield Park among other famous films. Administered by English Heritage, separately from the rest of Hampstead Heath.
Kenwood House is a stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The present house, built in the late 17th century, was remodelled in the 18th century for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield by Scottish architect Robert Adam, serving as a residence for the Earls of Mansfield until the 20th century.
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There are three notable outdoor bathing ponds on the heath. The Men's Pond and Women's Pond are both part of the line of small lakes on the eastern edge of the heath known as Highgate Ponds, and the Mixed Pond is part of Hampstead Ponds on the opposite side. Swimming hours are seasonal, complicated, age-dependent and change frequently, so it is worth checking before making a special trip.
A quite beautiful hidden garden on West Heath, which is little known even to many Londoners. It was originally part of the gardens of 19th-century Inverforth House built by Viscount Leverhulme (the then owner of Lever Brothers, now Unilever). The gardens are now common land and part of Hampstead Heath, and the most impressive feature is a restored timber pergola, covered with various climbing plants including roses, honeysuckle, clematis, wisteria and various vines. The pergola offers two stunning views from its north-western point. You can look straight out and over the heath's canopy and see nothing but mature trees. Alternatively, you can look down and see the beautifully manicured herb garden and the length of the pergola stretching out before you. The adjacent Hill Garden offers a complete contrast to the wildness of the pergola. The garden is beautifully manicured and is a favourite haunt for artists. The bench by the ornamental fish pond here gives a stunning view of Hampstead Heath with the towers of urban London as the backdrop.
Take a guided tour of the overgrown Western Cemetery which gives it a special beauty and charm, or visit the East Cemetery unaccompanied where you will find the grave of Karl Marx. There are at least 850 notable people buried at Highgate, from authors Douglas Adams and George Eliot, to Jean Simmons and Michael Faraday; high society Victorians wouldn't be seen dead anywhere else. It has been said that Highgate has the finest collection of Victorian funerary architecture in the country, and the cemetery certainly has more than its fair share of ghosts. There's even a resident vampire!
A house designed by Erno Goldfinger in 1939 and regarded as an icon of modernist architecture. The contents are just as impressive as the house and include original works by Henry Moore and Max Ernst. Local lore has it that Hampstead resident of the time Ian Fleming objected so strongly to Goldfinger's modernist design that he named his famous Bond villain after him.
A magnificent old house dating from 1667 that is administered by the National Trust. It is most famous for its globally important collection of early keyboard instruments, and there is also a fine collection of art and porcelain. Frequently hosts recitals.
A community garden for inner peace next to Hampstead Heath station. No smoking, alcohol or dogs allowed.