The Millbank Estate was commissioned by the London County Council (LCC) and built on the site of Millbank Penitentiary. The fifteen blocks were built between 1897 and 1902 and are named after eminent British painters:  Gainsborough, Hogarth, Landseer, Leighton, Lawrence, MacLise, Millais, Morland, Mulready, Romney (Stubbs), Rossetti, Ruskin, Turner, Wilkie.

Originally built for to provide good quality housing for 4430 people, there are currently 550 flats. The Estate had no shared lavatories or sculleries, and more spacious courtyards than were to be found in the more affluent mansion blocks in Victoria. The Estate is now Grade II listed.

"...a showpiece for London." (Nikolaus Pevsner)

Today the Estate is a tenant management organisation (TMO) run by and for the residents of the Estate.

Named after eminent artists from the last three hundred years, including , the blocks themselves bear testament to the area's rich cultural heritage and the Estate's proximity to the Tate Britain Art Gallery.