Albert Terrace

PRIMROSE HILL, NW1

An elegant Victorian family home located on Albert Terrace with direct views onto London’s Primrose Hill. This pink coloured residence helped to inspire Dodie Smith’s ‘101 Dalmatians’ story that became a famous Disney classic.

Written in 1956 by author Dorothy “Dodie” Smith (1896-1990), 101 Dalmatians is the story of dalmatians Pongo and Perdita who live with their owners Roger, Anita and Nanny Cook in a modest but pretty Victorian house by the Outer Circle in Regent’s Park.

Alongside walks on adjacent Primrose Hill showing a semi-detached house with a pillared entrance portico and a glass panelled front door. This leads to an entrance hallway, classic drawing room and Roger’s study. Disney story boarder Bill Peet later used the book as inspiration for the original concepts for the Disney animation, which Dodie Smith said

and adventures in the ponds of Regent’s Park, the dalmatians battle with the evil Cruella de Vil, who wants to turn them into a fur coat. Cruella lived in Hell Hall in Suffolk; the de Vil ancestral mansion based on real life Greys Hall near Finchingfield, where Dodie Smith lived in her early years.

Dodie Smith lived in nearby Dorset Square with her nine Dalmatians including one named Pongo. Dodie took her dalmatians for daily walks around Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park and was inspired to write the story during a dinner party at a friend’s house in Primrose Hill, when one of the guests observed Dodie’s dalmatians would make a lovely fur coat.

The first edition 1956 book has a pink cover with illustrations by Janet and Anne Johnstone captured the illustrations of the original book.

This is where the history and the details of the Victorian house on Albert Terrace step neatly into the tale. The four-storey semi-detached house has a pretty pink façade with white stone detailing and sash windows, complete with a rooftop terrace overlooking Primrose Hill.

The Albert Terrace house was built in 1847 under the auspices of historic landowner Charles Fitzroy, 3rd Baron Southampton (1804-1872) and was based on house styles devised by Fitzroy Estate architect, James Adam. The original owners (1847-1860) were Peter and Emma Graham, the wealthy founders of renowned Victorian cabinet and joinery firm Jackson & Graham which provided cabinets and other luxury items to HM Queen Victoria

and Emperor Napoleon III. Jackson & Graham made writing desks, cabinets, rocking horses, Royal dog kennels, horse boxes and even a Royal bathing carriage/machine for Osborne House for the British and French Royal families.

During the early Edwardian era (1898-1910) the house was owned by Harry Newson, a barrister and financial dog baskets as Roger sings to Anita about the evil Cruella de Vil – captured so beautifully by Disney in the globally-adored movie.

On the first floor, the main reception room interconnects the dining room and open plan family kitchen. Here Pongo and Perdita would have stood at the windows overlooking Primrose Hill wagging their

wizard who worked in the City of London and specialised in shipping, marine finance and insurance. Harry lived at Albert Terrace with his wife Elizabeth, dogs and four servants (two nannies, a cook and a butler). Between 1910 and the late 1920s the house was owned by steel industrialist Charles Ash.

In the early 1950s, when Dodie Smith was writing 101 Dalmatians, she carefully researched the history of Primrose Hill. Her story talks about Roger being a “financial wizard”, granted a lifelong tax exemption for his work in the City of London, it also highlights two nannies (Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler), who fed and cleaned up after the dalmatians. Johnstone’s illustrations showed the dalmatians playing with beautifully crafted wooden prams and dog kennels.

Fast forward to the modern day and the eight bedroom house still has echoes of 101 Dalmatians. From the glass panelled entrance portico door leading into the hall, just like the Disney classic, you can imagine Nanny Cook opening the front door to the evil fur-and-smoke enveloped Cruella de Vil.

In the ground floor drawing room, you can imagine Pongo and Perdita curled up in cosy tails and wanting a walk, all the while Cruella stalked the rooms impatiently interrogating Anita about when she could purchase more dalmatian puppies.

On the second floor is a bedroom suite with an ensuite bathroom and a study. In the Disney classic this is Roger’s study where he plays the piano, trumpet and trombone singing about Cruella de Vil.

On the top floor there are two further bedrooms (one with ensuite) and a rooftop terrace. On this terrace Pongo and Perdita would snuggle up romantically under the moonlight and stars looking down onto their beloved Primrose Hill park.

On the lower ground floor are three bedrooms, a kitchenette and cloakroom. In the Smith and Disney classic this floor would have been the domain of Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler, just as it was used by the real-life nannies and domestic staff of the Graham and Newson families during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Now the bedrooms provide ample accommodation for a large family or for contemporary domestic staff.