St. Mark’s Road is a street in the Ladbroke conservation area.
St Mark’s Road was one of the last parts of the Ladbroke estate to be developed – on the 1863 Ordnance Survey map the street is shown as no more than an outline.
A terrace of five houses, Nos. 1-9, was erected shortly thereafter on the western side – the developer, Charles Blake, gave leases to a builder called Philip Baker in 1865. They had three storeys plus basement. They were quite severely damaged during the Second World War, and by the 1960s planning documents record that only No. 1, the most southerly house, remained. It was then decided in 1967 to demolish what remained of the terrace and build the present large modern building, as an adult training and day centre for people with learning disabilities. It provides an essential service, but is one of the least attractive buildings in the conservation area and one of the few to be characterised as “negative” in the Conservation Area Appraisal (CAA).
There were never more than two houses on the eastern side. No. 2, at the southern end, was probably built around 1863 at the same time as No. 60 Blenheim Crescent, the next door house; and No. 4 at the northern end of the block, built by C. A. Kellon, a builder from Paddington, to whom the developer Charles Blake gave a lease in 1864. Both are handsome stucco houses with three storeys plus a basement.