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The Savills Blog

A pick of the best classic townhouses

18 March 2026

'You have a town house, I hope?' Thus is Jack Worthing quizzed by Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest.

The play was written towards the end of the 19^th century when it was customary for wealthy families to own both a country house and a house in town to which they and their staff decamped for the social season. In recent years this tradition has been depicted in a variety of period dramas.

Townhouses continue to be just as desirable today as they were centuries ago. In London, the grand white stucco-fronted buildings and garden squares such as Chester, Eaton, Belgrave and Wilton Crescent are regularly cited as golden, globally renowned addresses.

Bath’s honey-coloured Georgian crescents and terraces are inspired by Palladian and neoclassical architecture, with its two most famous addresses – The Royal Crescent and The Circus – encompassing dramatic, sweeping curved lines.

Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Bristol are also well-known hotspots for classic townhouses, while Oxford, Cambridge and York are home to some particularly fine examples too.

Some of the highest value townhouses have leisure facilities as well as a rear mews or coach houses – which originally served as stables, horse-drawn carriage storage and grooms quarters but today are often open-plan, light spaces used as secondary accommodation.

While of course they vary in size and specification, the first-floor drawing room – with floor-to-ceiling windows and high ceilings – remains one of the most important rooms for entertaining and socialising.

If you’re drawn to the charm of a townhouse, featured below is a selection of properties currently on the market.