Description
Du Cane Court is an impressive Art Deco housing complex built in 1938, at that time the largest purpose-built private accommodation of this type in Europe. There are a range of different flats and maisonettes, and the communal gardens at the front were designed by Seyemon Kusumoto, one of which has a water feature comprising a pond and waterfall. One of the most enduring myths is that the building was used by the Luftwaffe as a visual navigation point during air raids in WWII, which may have led to the associated myth that Hitler had the building in mind for housing his officers in the event of a conquest of or accord with Britain. A Residents Association has been set up to maintain the estate.
Practical Information
| Site location | Balham High Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW17 |
| What3Words | ///pills.ridge.thus |
| Type of Site | Housing/Estate Landscaping |
| Borough | Wandsworth |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private |
| Public Transport | Rail/tube: Balham (Northern) |
| Research Updated | 1 May 2009 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The estate's name is derived from the Du Quesnes family, Huguenots who fled persecution in France in c.1570 and moved to London in the early C17th. Their descendants became wealthy and came to own large tracts of land by the late C19th, including Streatham Common and an estate in Balham. Charles Henry Copley Du Cane (b.1864) was Lord of the Manors of Great and Little Braxted and sold the plot of land on which Du Cane Court was built.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ282730 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | private |
| Dates | 1938 |
| Designers | Seyemon Kusumoto |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Wandsworth |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
This square was developed from 1889, and was originally called McKay Square. By 1928 it was renamed Nightingale Square, after Nightingale Lane, an old country lane so-called for the song of nightingales heard here. The central garden was for the use of residents of surrounding houses who paid an annual sum towards its maintenance. Largely grass, the garden has a boundary privet hedge and is planted with holly, London plane and other trees, with a small stone fountain in the centre.
Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common, together with Streatham Green are the remains of common land that once stretched as far as Mitcham. An avenue of trees marks the former boundary line between the two commons, now to all intents and purposes one. The common is partly grass and partly shrubs and woodland and forms an important and historic green area in this part of London despite the roads that cross and surround it. Buildings around the common include a Regency gothic villa, but is predominantly of the later C19th.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Springfield University Hospital was built as the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum and opened in 1841 on the 40-hectare Springfield Park Estate, once owned by the Earl of Spencer. Regarded as the most modern county asylum when it opened, Surrey County Asylum transferred to the MCC c.1888 and became known as Wandsworth, then Springfield Asylum. It was later renamed Springfield Hospital before becoming Springfield University Hospital. Its grounds include remnants of pioneering airing courts laid out for patients' exercise, 6 of which remained as well as formal landscaping. One of the airing courts was created as a community horticulture project by SHARE, and named the Gillian Webb Memorial Garden. Redevelopment of part of the hospital site instigated from 2010 has led to the loss of historic landscape features.
Springfield University Hospital was built as the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum and opened in 1841 on the 40-hectare Springfield Park Estate, once owned by the Earl of Spencer. Regarded as the most modern county asylum when it opened, Surrey County Asylum transferred to the MCC c.1888 and became known as Wandsworth, then Springfield Asylum. It was later renamed Springfield Hospital before becoming Springfield University Hospital. Its grounds include remnants of pioneering airing courts laid out for patients' exercise, 6 of which remained as well as formal landscaping. One of the airing courts was created as a community horticulture project by SHARE, and named the Gillian Webb Memorial Garden. Redevelopment of part of the hospital site instigated from 2010 has led to the loss of historic landscape features.
