Situated within touching distance of Hampstead Heath, the average home in Swain’s Lane sells for almost £2m, out of budget for all but the wealthiest of buyers.
That is until today (November 8), when the road will find itself on the cheapest square of a brand new Hampstead and Highgate Monopoly board.
While house prices might have skyrocketed in the real world, there must be good rent controls in Monopoly land; property on the brown square traditionally reserved for Old Kent Road still only costs a bargain £60.
To be fair to the game designers, it must have been hard to choose what to place on the cheapest part of a board that represents one of the most expensive areas in the country.
Even Billionaires’ Row – more properly known as The Bishops Avenue – is less than halfway to ‘Go’.
The biggest properties on offer, replacing Mayfair and Park Lane, are instead two of the area’s most well-known landmarks – Highgate Cemetery and Kenwood House.
Other local institutions to get a nod include Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond and the Freud Museum.
The Ham & High also makes an appearance where Fleet Street once stood – our offices are just around the corner after all.
And the burden of designing the board did not fall solely on the shoulders of the game’s creator, Winning Moves UK.
Local people were also asked which landmarks they would like to see on each of the squares.
Earlier in the year, this paper took to the streets of Hampstead with the conspicuous Mr Monopoly to capture the public mood.
Itay Cohen, who stopped to speak alongside his dad Eyal, will no doubt be disappointed that the crêperie outside the King William IV pub is nowhere to be seen on the board.
But other suggestions, including the Heath’s various swimming ponds, have made the cut.
Winning Moves UK John Keen-Tomlinson said: “The response from the public to the Monopoly: Hampstead & Highgate Edition has been beyond our most optimistic expectations.
“We would like to thank everyone who suggested landmarks and the wording for the cards.”
The board game will be available to buy at Hampstead Waterstones from 10am this morning.
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