Holly Hill, diverging to the north-west from Heath St., opposite the Tube Station, leads to the former Mount Vernon Hospital, now the National Institute for Medical Research. Opposite the institute (facing down Holly Hill) is Button House, the home of Joanna Baillie from 1806 until her death in 1851. A little to the right, at the corner of Windmill Hill and The Grove, we may note the fine old wrought-iron garden-gate of Fenton House. Still more to the right, in Holly Bush Hill, is a quaint old timber house, occupied by George Romney, the painter (1734-1802), during his last years in London. The Grove leads north to the Heath, passing Fenton House (left), a picturesque Georgian mansion, and New Grove House (right), where George du Maurier lived in 1874-95. A branch of The Grove, to the left, contains a house occupied in 1856-64 by Sir G. G. Scott, the architect. To the west of this point is Lower Terrace, No. 2 in which was occupied by Constable in 1820-21. A lane leads hence to Judges' Walk, a shaded terrace with a fine view over the West Heath, named from a doubtful tradition that assizes were held here during the Plague.
Mount Vernon Hospital stands at the top of Frognal. To the left, near the corner of Frognal Gardens, is the Old Mansion, a picturesque Georgian residence, and farther down, opposite Frognal Lane, stood Priory Lodge, to which Dr. Johnson brought his wife for her health for a short time in 1749. Thence to Finchley Road.
