24 Heath Drive, Gidea Park, Romford, Greater London
The Gidea Park Garden Suburb was built in 1910–11. It was the most notable development in Romford up to that time. In 1897 the Gidea Hall estate had been bought by (Sir) Herbert Raphael (1859–1924), of Rose Court, Havering. He gave a strip of land on the western edge of the estate for a public park, opened in 1904. On the eastern side of the estate 90 acres were already occupied by Romford golf club, which he had founded in 1894. In 1910 Raphael joined with two other Liberal M.P.s, Charles McCurdy and (Sir) Tudor Walters, to form Gidea Park Ltd.. This was for the purpose of building a garden suburb on the remainder of the Gidea Hall estate. Gidea Park Ltd. had close links with the Hampstead Garden Suburb Co. A competition was used to decide on designs for the estate. This house was designed by W Curtis Green. It was one of the entries for the 'small house class' in the original Gidea Park competition.
