The four houses comprising Provenance Gardens are located within the stunning 2-acre grounds of Hadley Hall, built in 1896 by George William Kirkham. Over the last 125 years the site has been steeped in historical and cultural significance imbued by only three subsequent owners.
In the 1920’s the site was owned by Father John Sebastian Ward who ran a religious community here and during which time the magnificent 13thC Tithe Barn was moved from Kent and erected on site (it remains in the centre of the estate and a consecrated building to this day). In 1934 Ward created the innovative ‘Abbey Folk Park’, which was visited later in the decade by the very young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, containing many salvaged historic buildings and shopfronts, from Barnet and the surrounding areas, including a 17thC Smithy, parts of which remain on site today.
In 1945 ownership passed to eminent oceanic and ethnographic art dealer William Ohly who founded ‘The Abbey Art Centre’ and it has remained within the same family, known by the same name, for the past 77 years. Ohly founded this creative oasis as a place for artists to live and work, within the beautiful and stimulating surroundings, and he ran this alongside The Berkeley Galleries, in Davies Street Mayfair, which was at the forefront of the British, Australian, Oriental and Ethnographic art scene for more than three decades, exhibiting such luminaries as Henry Moore, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Michael Cardew, Lilian Colbourn and Milein Cosman.
The two worlds collided and through the years many artists of note have passed through The Abbey Art Centre doors from film animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger, to artists Alan Davie, Robert Klippel, Gerard Dillon and Bernard Smith, and friends of Ohly’s such as Henry Moore, Lucian Freud and John Heartfield were all known to have visited The Abbey Art Centre on many occasions.
Latterly the secluded gated community has been a sanctuary of live and work studio space for a wide variety of creative industries including fine artists, musicians, ceramicists, fashion stylists, theatrical performers, needlework and embroidery artists, writers and and film makers including Jeff Nuttall, Mark Long, Mike Figgis, Fleur Oakes, Charlene Mullen, Lisa Takahashi, David Shillinglaw and Bruce Gilbert.
‘Provenance’ is a nod to this rich cultural history and current owner (and daughter of William Ohly) Bienchen Ohly and her children are passionate in continuing his artistic vision for the Art Centre for the next generation of family and artists to pass through this culturally significant Barnet landmark to which Provenance Gardens is intrinsically linked and now overlooks.
Located approx 0.8 miles of New Barnet Mainline station as well as popular local schools including JCoss which is approx 0.8 miles and East Barnet Secondary school which is approx 0.5 miles away. High Barnet (Northern Line) and Cockfosters (Piccadilly Line) are the nearest tube stations and the area is also served by numerous bus routes. The Spires shopping centre is close with its many shopping amenities and LA Fitness gym is also nearby.
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Prices from £1,445,000 to £1,595,000
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