Things you didn't know about... Holly Village

Holly Village is the first gated estate
Holly Village is a complete village, in effect, built as a single whole concept and all at the same time.

Holly Village was built by a single woman
Angela Burdett-Coutts paid for Holly Village in its entirety and her statue can be seen at its entrance, which also features her favourite dog.

Holly Village's founder was not poor
In fact, Angela Burdett-Coutts was once the richest woman in England. The list of her gifts is long, including the Greyfriars Bobby statue in Edinburgh, lifeboats in Brittany and the establishment of the NSPCC.

Every building in Holly Village has Ms Burdett-Coutt's coat of arms...
...which is odd because elsewhere she gave donations anonymously, so much so that she was referred to as the "lady unknown".

Who was Holly Village for?
This seems to be a mystery. One version is that it was intended for retired Coutts bankers; another that Holly Village was a place for Angela Burdett-Coutt's servants to retire to.

Don't mess with Holly Village!
In 2004 the Maury family applied to build a "Teletubbies-style" basement under their cottage in Holly Village. They were advised that if they wanted larger accommodation, they should move out. One neighbour described the plans as the "rape and pillage of Holly Village".

Holly Village is not a cheap place to live.
Prices of properties in Holly Village—there are only 12—are 184% above average. Mind you, each house in Holly Village is different, with Gothic features including carving, turrets, and gargoyles.

Holly Village houses have a dust extraction system
All the dust can simply be swept down a hole in the floor.

The gateway to Holly Village has a statue of Angela's friend
On one side of the arch is the statue of Angela. On the other, there is the sculpted figure of her life-long companion, a Mrs Brown. There is no statue of Angela's husband, her secretary at the time, whom she married when she was 67 and he was 27.