It is principally a shopping district used by residents of the Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Between Temple Fortune and Golders Green, at Hoop Lane, are two cemeteries – Golders Green Jewish Cemetery and Golders Green Crematorium.
To the west is a small Carmelite Monastery (established 1908). The monastery site was redeveloped as a residential scheme of flats and houses and sold by Alan Goldin Estates. Other religious buildings include the Catholic Church of St Edward the Confessor, the Anglican Church of St Barnabas, and North Western Reform Synagogue (also known as Alyth Shul).
The name 'Temple' derives from the Knights Templar, a medieval Christian military order which held a sub-manor in the area, while 'Fortune' may come from foran tun, a settlement in front of the main one. It is likely that the settlement was originally the Bleccanham estate (c.900s). By the end of the 18th century Temple Fortune Farm was established on the northern side of Farm Close.
By the end of the 19th century there were around 300 people living in the area, which included a laundry and a small hospital for children with skin diseases. The principle industry was brick making.
The significant moment in Temple Fortune's development into a suburban area occurred in 1907.
The establishment of the Hampstead Garden Suburb brought major changes to the area east of the Finchley Road. Temple Fortune Farm was demolished, and along the front of the road, the building of Arcade, and Gateway House (c.1911) established the Hampstead Garden Suburbs retail district.
Also significant in that year was the opening of Golders Green tube station. Although the area had been served by horse-drawn omnibuses (since at least the 1880s) and later motor buses (from 1907), it was the tram line of 1910, connecting Church End with Golders Green Station, which led to the development of the area west of the Finchley road.
The now demolished Orpheum Theatre (1930), was intended to rival the Hippodrome in Golders Green. It was for a long time a huge Odeon cinema, seating over 1,800 people, but a sheltered-accommodation building (Birnbeck Court) now stands on the site.
