Avenue House

Avenue House at Stephens House and Gardens is a large Victorian mansion (Grade II listed) situated on East End Road in Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet.

Built in 1859 on land formerly known as Temple Croft Field, it was acquired in 1874 by ink magnate and philanthropist Henry Charles Stephens ("Inky") who later enlarged and improved the house and grounds with advice from well-known landscape gardener Robert Marnock (1800-89).

On his death in 1918 Stephens bequeathed the estate in his will to 'the people of Finchley' held in trust by "the Urban District Council of Finchley, subject to the condition that the same shall be open for the use and enjoyment always of the public under such reasonable regulations as may be made by the said Council from time to time for the care and upkeep thereof..." and ownership passed to Finchley Urban District Council; its freehold is now owned by a registered Charity, 'The Avenue House Estate' Charity number 210345, of which the principal trustee is the London Borough of Barnet.

The house and ten acres of grounds have been leased to the Avenue House Estate Trust, registered charity 1093908, for a period of 125 years from 2002. It is also home to the Finchley Society and their archive. Since January 2014 the estate and its commercial activities have been promoted as Stephens House and Gardens.

Avenue House is home to The Stephens Collection, a small display and archive of material relating to the Stephens Ink company and Stephens family and relevant local history; admission is free. Its first curator was the late Norman Burgess. The current chairman is Peter Marsh.

In December 2016 the museum closed temporarily in order to move to a new location within the estate's new Visitor Centre being established within the former stables block. Reopening is planned for Easter 2017.

The Bothy was built as a large walled garden in the shape of a castle sometime in the late 1870s. It is one of the earliest non-Roman concrete structures in England.

A project to restore the Bothy structure and turn it into an arts centre and garden began in 1997 by the Finchley Arts Centre Trust (FACT). This was funded by local people, with money raised matched by the Heritage Lottery Fund and totalling £418,000.

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