The Victorians followed the Georgian tradition of building terraces of largely identical houses for the rich, with mews at the back for horses and carriages.  The proportion of mews properties to main houses varied enormously. In most of the Victorian developments in Central London, there were about two mews units for every three houses in the main terraces.  In the most exclusive areas, each main house would have had its own mews unit. In some areas, such as the Gunter Estate, north of Old Brompton Road, there was only one mews for every four houses.

Mews were not designed to be seen by anyone who mattered.  When a rich householder went out, the servants brought the horse and carriage round to the front door.  But to modern eyes, the plain rustic look of mews houses compares favourably with the overdone ornamentation of the houses they were meant to serve. Architects often could not resist adding flair and style to their designs, even of these functional properties, so many mews properties have balustrades and attractive mouldings or brick features in their facades.

Imposing arches were used so that people living on the streets would not be reminded of the humbler dwellings behind.  Most of the yards or streets were constructed with cobbles or granite flagstones. (Unfortunately, some were tarmacked in the 20th century.) The cobbled courtyards were often lower than the main street level. The cottages generally front directly onto the yard, without any front garden. They usually don't have rear gardens either, or a rear view - other than the backs of the main houses.

The mews usually contained ranges of 2-storeyed buildings.  The coach-houses and stables were on the ground floor and coachmen’s accommodation above. But sometimes (as in Kensington Court Mews, for example) the mews units were built as 3-storey structures with coaches on the ground floor, stables on the first floor reached up an inclined pathway, and coachmen’s quarters on the second floor. 

Mews properties were simple brick structures and the facades were generally left bare. (Many have been rendered or painted in bright colours over the years.) The builders often economised on materials. Timbers from ships were often re-used as floorboards or joists in mews houses. Builders sometimes used iron girders to support concrete floors. 

In some cases, the flues of each mews building were gathered into a large arched structure, like a flying buttress, and carried up to the top of the rear wall of one of the main houses, presumably to prevent smoke from the mews getting into the terraced house windows. You can see this in Queen’s Gate Gardens and Elvaston Mews, for instance.