South Side
No. 43
No. 43 was built for Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Salisbury
and later of Winchester, under a direct lease from Sir
Richard Grosvenor in 1726. (ref. 105) It is a large and imposing
house, four windows wide and of four main storeys, as
befitting Hoadly's position as one of the leading Whig
churchmen of his day (Plates 10d, 11c: see also fig. 3f in
vol. XXXIX). The builder was probably Robert Phillips,
bricklayer, for a Robert Phillips witnessed the lease, and
Phillips is known to have built No. 48 Upper Grosvenor
Street, which has certain stylistic similarities, directly for
the first lessee.
Above a ground storey of channelled stucco with an
Ionic portico, No. 43 is brick faced and has retained much
of its Georgian character with segmental-headed windows
typical of the 1720's, although now, with the exception of
those on the second floor, fitted with Victorian sashes. The
brickwork is a uniform browny red colour, but this is the
result of later treatment, for early photographs and
drawings (Plates 10b, 33a) show that two-tone brickwork
was used in a similar manner to No. 48 Upper Grosvenor
Street.
The particularly elegant porch was added by 1796 and
was enclosed in 1909. (ref. 106) The stucco on the ground storey is
a Victorian addition, perhaps dating from 1858 when
nearly £5,000 were spent on repairs and alterations,
probably by the builder John Newson, (ref. 107) and the back
elevation, which has been virtually rebuilt, may also date
largely from this time. In 1909 William Flockhart
increased the height of the fourth storey, and of its front
windows (which had previously had segmental-headed
panels sunk in the parapet above them), and added a garret
storey in the roof. The builders were William Cubitt and
Company. (ref. 108)
Internally the house has been little altered on plan (fig.
3f in vol. XXXIX) but much changed in appearance. The
main staircase, which was at the front of the house, was
removed in 1949, (ref. 109) but an octagonal plaster centrepiece on
the ceiling and a cartouche on a wall remain of the
decorations of what must once have been a fine doublestorey staircase compartment. Elsewhere on the ground
floor some eighteenth-century features remain, and an
Adamesque ceiling in a back room may date from that
period. On the first floor there is a large double drawingroom with rococo decorations and Ionic columns in the
central opening. This work may date from 1894 when the
architect F. T. Verity was given permission by the Estate
Board to form openings between rooms on this floor, (ref. 110) but
in 1909 White Allom and Company put in some new
fireplaces and may also have been responsible for other
decorative work. (ref. 111) There are two marble fireplaces of a
mid-Georgian type on this floor.
Occupants include: Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Salisbury
and latterly of Winchester, 1726–45. Charles Compton, son of
4th Earl of Northampton, 1746–55. Nicholas Fazakerley, lawyer
and politician, 1757–67. Sir Joseph Mawbey, 1st bt., politician
and distiller, 1772–84. 10th Earl of Westmorland, 1784–8. (Sir)
John Coxe Hippisley, later 1st bt., politician (later at No. 17),
1788–94. 16th Baron Saye and Sele, 1850–8. Lieut.-col.
Augustus Meyrick, cousin and heir of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick,
antiquary, 1859–66. Baron Connemara (previously at No. 68),
1896–1902.
No. 46
No. 46 (Plates 10a, 10b, 12, fig. 18: see also Plate 42a, fig.
25 in vol. XXXIX). This impressive twentieth-century
palazzo owes its outward appearance to a transformation
wrought by Detmar Blow and Fernand Billerey in
1910–11, but is otherwise the product of a complex
building history. A large house with a fifty-six-foot
frontage, it occupies a plot originally divided between
three narrow houses. Two of these, later numbered 45 and
46, were built under leases of 1725 to William Benson, the
proto-Palladian architect who succeeded Wren as
Surveyor-General of the King's Works, and his brother
Benjamin, the first occupants. (ref. 112) Next to nothing is known
about the appearance of these houses for they were rebuilt
as one in 1820–1 by William Dundas, a former Secretaryat-War, who had been living at No. 45 since 1814. (ref. 113) The
new house was known as No. 45 until 1865 and thereafter
as No. 46.
In 1899 this house was purchased by the very wealthy
financier, (Sir) Edgar Speyer, whose banking house of
Speyer Brothers helped to finance several of London's
early tube railways, he himself being Chairman of the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
from 1906 to 1915. (ref. 114) He immediately began to make
alterations to the house under the direction of Arthur
Blomfield the younger, who carried out a number of works
between 1899 and 1905. (ref. 115) The full extent of these changes
is uncertain but they included alterations to the windows
and perhaps the erection of a new library in the back
garden. By 1910 the house had three high storeys and
garrets, the front was stuccoed, and there was a tall Doric
portico which Blomfield had enclosed in 1901 (ref. 116) (Plate
10a). On the ground and first floors were asymmetrically
placed tripartite window openings, also of Blomfield's
designing. If the façade was unusual in appearance,
however, the rear elevation was bizarre, with Venetian
Gothic windows on some floors, conventional rectangular
openings on others and at third-floor level a very strange
feature of attached columns and a cornice forming an
architectural frame around three arched window openings. (ref. 117) From the evidence of fittings which were
incorporated in the present house the interior must have
been equally exotic.
Speyer was born in New York and had a penchant for
the ostentatious display of wealth which resembled that of
American moguls of his day, so that when he decided in
1909 to add No. 44 to No. 46 and provide new front and
rear elevations to cover the two houses, it was fitting that
his architects should produce a scheme that was more akin
to the American Beaux-Arts tradition than to English
precedents. Blow and Billerey's first designs for multiwindowed façades with attached Corinthian columns (ref. 117) were, nevertheless, quite European in feeling, but there
were many changes of intention before the final elevations
were decided on—to the great annoyance of the Grosvenor
Board, which discovered that Blow was embarking on
changes without submitting new drawings. (ref. 118)
The Portland-stone front to Grosvenor Street is indeed
monumental, with massive Florentine-style rustication
on the ground floor and smooth ashlar facing above (Plate
10b). There are only three widely spaced windows to each
floor and the mouldings are suave and rather mannered,
especially around the first-floor windows where the
brackets to the pediments are quite plain and the
architraves consist of little more than raised bands of stone.
The rear elevation is more animated, with five windows to
each floor and a rectangular projection in the centre up to
cornice level (Plate 12b). On the first floor the centre and
outside windows are fully aediculated with Corinthian
columns, entablatures and pediments, in sharp contrast to
the treatment of the windows of this floor on the front
elevation.
The regularity expressed in the exterior is, however, no
more than skin deep, for the interior is decorated in a
mélange of styles combining genuine features salvaged
from European buildings and the products of some of the
best craftsmen of the day, many of these also brought over
from the Continent. The peculiarities of plan are to some
extent explained by the Grosvenor Board's requirement,
when Speyer took over No. 44, that the two houses should
be capable of being separated again if necessary. (ref. 119) In the
event it is difficult to see how this could have been done
with facility, and Edmund Wimperis, the estate surveyor,
had misgivings, but nevertheless thought that even if
reconversion proved impossible, 'it is a fine scheme and
elevation and should not be wrecked on this account'. (ref. 120)
The stipulation helps to explain, however, why there are
staircases on each side of the large entrance hall which
takes up the whole width of the house (Plate 12d). The
eastern staircase is in the Gothic style with intricately
carved woodwork and was retained from the old house,
where it may well have been one of Speyer's genuine
imports, although some of the surrounding panelling must
have been made to match (Plate 12a: see also Plate 42a in
vol. XXXIX). The western staircase, which rises only to firstfloor level, was designed by Billerey on the model of the
Scala dei Giganti of the Doge's Palace in Venice, and the
decorations carved in stone on the Venetian staircase are
here beautifully reproduced in oak (Plate 12d). Two
arcades with free-standing piers divide the hallway into
three compartments, the one on the east having Gothic
detail to match the staircase and the others Renaissance
detail in carved and painted woodwork, also largely
adapted from the decorations of the Doge's Palace (Plate
12c, 12d). It is likely that the firm of L. Buscaylet of Paris was
responsible for the meticulous execution of Billerey's
scheme. (ref. 121) The remainder of the ground floor is taken up
by a large dining-room, predominantly decorated with
panelling of Billerey's creation but also containing a huge
carved stone mediaeval fireplace, and by a small elliptical
room panelled in a late seventeenth-century manner.
Figure 18:
No. 46 Grosvenor Street, plans in 1976 and detail of front entrance now removed. The room names are those in use during the residence of Sir Edgar Speyer
On the first floor an 'Italian room', as it was called in
1912, occupies the space between the landings of the two
staircases. Here old wooden panels inlaid with arabesques
of birds and plants were fitted into a new framework. The
room also has intricately carved wooden doors, a stone
Renaissance fireplace with a very elaborate cast-iron back,
and a quite magnificent ceiling, coloured and gilded, with
painted wooden panels, which must have been reassembled from elsewhere. Large areas of blank wall space
above the panelling were probably intended for tapestries.
The large music room (Plate 12e) takes up the remainder of
this floor, and here the rear elevation expresses the interior
planning, for the two windows which have simple
architraves light small lobbies in the angles between the
elliptical curve of the music room and the sides of the
projecting bay. One of these lobbies originally contained a
spiral staircase leading to a musicians' gallery. The music
room itself is panelled in oak with carved and gilded Louis
XV decorations designed by Billerey. The ceiling is
painted with allegorical figures in a sky within a trompe
l'oeil framework and was probably executed by Maurice
Tastemain, a life-long friend of Billerey, who collaborated
with him elsewhere. (ref. 122) At the west end of the room was an
organ with an ornate case which was designed by Billerey
on the model of one in the chapel at Versailles and made by
Carlhian-Beaumetz of Paris; (ref. 123) only the case now remains.
Both Richard Strauss and Debussy performed their works
at Speyer's house. (ref. 124)
Among the craftsmen who worked at No. 46 was George
P. Bankart for decorative plasterwork and the firm of W.
Bainbridge Reynolds for metalwork, including a highly
elaborate wrought-iron entrance doorway (now removed:
fig. 18) and a silver bath for Speyer. (ref. 125) The builders were
William Cubitt and Company. (ref. 126)
Above the grand reception rooms, the approved plans
show eleven bedrooms, a dressing-room, a boudoir, a
secretary's room, day and night nurseries, three maids'
rooms, a large sewing room and six bathrooms. Of the two
levels of basement the lower was for wine and fruit. In the
garden was a schoolroom, gymnasium and the (second)
library. (ref. 117)
During the war of 1914–18 Speyer was suspected of
being a German sympathiser and was forced to leave the
country. His house was commandeered by the government, at which time his secretary said that he had spent a
quarter of a million pounds on it. (ref. 127) After the war it was
used as the American Women's Club and is now the
Japanese Embassy.
Occupants include: No. 44, Lady Eleanour Conyngham, wid.
of 1st Earl Conyngham, 1787–1816. 1st Baron Strafford of
Harmondsworth, latterly Field Marshal 1st Earl of Strafford,
1846–60. Charles and Lady Elizabeth Clements, son and da. of
2nd Earl of Leitrim, 1861–77: Lady Elizabeth Clements,
1877–92. Nos. 45 and 46 were united in 1820–1, and until 1865
known as No. 45, when the house was renumbered 46. Occupants
of the westerly house until 1821 (No. 45) and thereafter of the
enlarged house include William Benson, Surveyor-General of the
King's Works, 1726–52. 'Lord Charles Hayes', ?Lord Charles
Hay, maj.-gen., son of 3rd Marquess of Tweeddale, 1758–60
(previously at No. 77). Dr. Thomas Hume, 1805–10. Mary
Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, sister of future 1st Baron
Wharncliffe, 1811–13, and with her husband, William Dundas,
politician, 1813–45, and as Mrs. Dundas, 1850–2: her sister-inlaw, Dow. Lady Wharncliffe, wid. of 1st Baron, 1853–6. 3rd
Baron Hotham, general, 1858–70. Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th bt.,
1883, 1888–99. (Sir) Edgar Speyer, latterly bt., financier,
philanthropist and patron of music, 1899–1917. Occupants of the
easterly house (No. 46) prior to 1820–1 include Lady Irby, wid.
of Sir Edward Irby, 1st bt., 1730–4: her son, Sir William Irby,
2nd bt., later 1st Baron Boston, 1734–45 (later at No. 50). Sir
Thomas Robinson, 1st bt., architect, 1748. Sir Brook Bridges,
3rd bt., 1761–2.
Nos. 47 and 48
Nos. 47 and 48 are two houses which were largely rebuilt
as one in 1938–9, when they were provided with a single
symmetrical façade based on, and incorporating parts of,
the existing façade of No. 48 (Plates 10b, 10c). The
alterations were made for the dressmaking firm of
Molyneux to the designs of the architect Gerald Lacoste.
The builders were Yeomans and Partners. (ref. 128)
Of the original houses, No 47 had a narrow twenty-fourfoot frontage and was built for Colonel (later General)
Charles Churchill under a building lease granted directly
to him in 1726. (ref. 129) Churchill, who was the illegitimate son
of General Charles Churchill, brother of the first Duke of
Marlborough, was the lover of the actress Anne Oldfield,
who lived nearby at No. 60 Grosvenor Street, and their
son, also named Charles Churchill, inherited both houses.
Photographs taken in c. 1910–11 (Plate 10a, 10b) show a fourstorey brick-faced house with sharply defined stone or
stucco dressings and a balcony with crinoline-shaped iron
railings at first-floor level. Two obelisks which flanked the
entrance have been re-used in front of the new façade. In
plan No. 47 was unusually deep, with a central open-well
staircase and a fine square back room. (ref. 130) In 1847 the
builder Thomas Grissell made alterations of an unknown
extent here. (ref. 131)
No. 48
No. 48 was a larger house of thirty-six-foot frontage
with four windows to a floor and was built under a building
lease of 1726 to Henry Huddle, carpenter. (ref. 132) Its conventional brick façade with segmental-headed windows
and pilaster strips of channelled brickwork at the sides
formed the model for the present elevation (Plate 10b).
The fourth storey with plain brickwork to the pilasters was
an addition of 1906, (ref. 133) and the tall, mansarded attic storey
which was erected in 1935–6 was retained during
rebuilding. (ref. 134)
When the new seven-bay elevation was completed in
1939 Lenygon and Morant applied tinting to some of the
bricks to create the impression of carefully picked stocks (ref. 135)
(Plate 10c), an effect which has now been spoilt by crude
painting of the brickwork. The symmetry of the façade is
emphasized by a large central stone doorcase with
Corinthian pilasters and a swan-neck pediment, while the
central windows of the first and second floors have
elaborate stone architraves of an unmistakably neoGeorgian character.
The interior of No. 48 had at least one outstanding
feature. An inventory of 1750 describes the 'Great Stair
Case' in the entrance hall as 'Wainscotted Rail'd high with
Oak and the rest painted in a Composed Order with figures
and Trophies done by John Legare [Laguerre]'. Elsewhere,
there was much panelling, and marble chimneypieces. (ref. 136)
After a fire in 1923 the much-altered interior was virtually
rebuilt to the designs of Guy Dawber. (ref. 137) Further
substantial alterations were made in 1938–9, and more
recent modernization has left an almost featureless
interior.
Occupants include: No. 47, Col. (latterly gen.) Charles
Churchill, 1727–45. 17th Baron Abergavenny, later 1st Earl,
1750–3. 3rd Viscount Downe, 1753–60: his brother, 4th
Viscount, 1760–2. Gen. Sir Frederick Trench, 1848–59. Dow.
Countess of Airlie, wid. of 5th Earl, 1884–8. A. E. W. Mason,
novelist, 1931. Marquis De Amodio, 1933–5. No. 48, Lord
Charles Cavendish, son of 2nd Duke of Devonshire and father of
Henry Cavendish the scientist, 1729–32. Sir Hugh Smithson, 4th
bt., later Earl of Northumberland, and 1st Duke of Northumberland of 3rd cr., 1741–50. Andrew Stuart, lawyer and politician,
1785, 1787–1802: his brother, Maj.-gen. James Stuart, 1786. Sir
Francis Molyneux, 7th bt., 1808–12: his nephew, HenryThomas Howard, latterly Lord Henry-Thomas Howard Molyneux Howard, 1812–24. Sir Robert Howe Bromley, 3rd bt.,
1829–51. Viscount Lascelles, later 4th Earl of Harewood, 1853.
6th Earl of Guilford, 1856–61: his wid. (who 1863 married John
Lettsom Elliott) and her son, Frederick North, 1861–7. 6th Earl
of Aylesford, 1868–71. Charles Maule Ramsay, son of 12th Earl
of Dalhousie, 1892–1904: his mother, Dow. Countess, and his
nephew, 14th Earl, 1896–1903. 1st Baron Avebury, banker, man
of science and author, 1909–13: his son, 2nd Baron, 1913–18.
Lady Tredegar, wife of 3rd Baron Tredegar, and their son, later
2nd Viscount Tredegar, 1919–23: and she, as Viscountess
Tredegar, 1927–8. 6th Earl Cadogan, 1929–33: his wid., 1933–5.
No. 49
No. 49, a large house with four main storeys and four
windows to a floor, was built under a lease granted to John
Green, joiner, in 1725, (ref. 138) and is still recognizably Georgian
in appearance despite later alterations. In 1870 Alfred
Waterhouse provided an extra storey (ref. 139) and was perhaps
also responsible for the prominent finials which sit on top
of the parapet in front of the attic windows. Other
additions to the front include an enclosed Doric portico (of
1888 (ref. 140) ) and a balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade at
first-floor level carried on ornate brackets. The brickwork
has been coloured red so that the original distinctive
patterning in two-tone brickwork is now almost totally
obscured.
The interior has been much transformed. Among the
schemes of which there is some record is one by Waterhouse
for Julian Goldsmid, M.P., in 1868–70, but the extent of
his work is uncertain. (ref. 141) Further alterations were made in
1875 (ref. 142) and again in 1882 when the rear wing was rebuilt to
the designs of Weeks and Hughes of Tunbridge Wells. (ref. 143)
Little Georgian work survives. The position of the
central toplit staircase has not been changed but the
staircase itself, which is of stone sharply cut away on the
undersides, with an iron balustrade, looks to be a
somewhat mechanical later replacement. The most
distinctive Victorian addition is a large ground-floor room
in the rear wing of 1882 which has a deep Italianate cornice
with small painted panels between scrolled brackets, very
broad pilasters with long panels inset with French-style
arabesques painted on canvas, and a marble fireplace in the
French manner. A large drawing-room on the first floor
which has a gilded cornice and centrepiece to the ceiling
and tall double doors with wide architraves may be
contemporary with the back room. An interesting survival
is a railway track in the basement passage which linked the
house with the offices in the mews building at the rear.
Occupants include: Earl Grandison, 1727–35. 2nd Viscount
Vane, 1735–6. 5th Duke of Hamilton, 1737–43: his son, 6th
Duke, 1745–7. 3rd Earl of Scarbrough, 1748–52: his wid., 1752–4:
their son-in-law, Peter Ludlow, latterly 1st Baron and 1st Earl
Ludlow, and their daughter Frances, 1754–95. 2nd Earl of
Charlemont, 1836–55 (previously at No. 59). 3rd Marquess of
Donegall, 1855–6. 2nd Baron De Mauley, 1858–62. Italian
Legation, 1863–8. Julian Goldsmid, later 3rd bt., politician,
1868–75. Edmund Backhouse, politician, 1876–80. Sir David
Salomons, 2nd bt., pioneer of 'horseless carriages', 1889–1916.
No. 50
No. 50 was built under a lease granted in 1724 to Charles
Griffith, carpenter, (ref. 144) and was one of three large houses
(the others are Nos. 51 and 52) which were built on a plot
agreed to be leased to the master builder Benjamin
Timbrell in 1720. (ref. 145) A sketch of c. 1770 (Plate 8d in vol.
XXXIX) shows the house before any substantial alterations
were made, and the contrast with its present appearance is
a cautionary example of how extensively a façade that still
manages to look Georgian can have been altered. Then the
house had three main storeys and a garret storey, and its
four-bay façade was defined by pilaster strips at the sides.
The windows were segmental-headed and a simple
doorcase with a hood completed a neat, reticent house
front of the 1720's. Now, however, there are bandcourses
at second-floor and cornice level, a large, enclosed Ionic
portico of 1907, with rounded sides (builders, Trollope
and Colls; architect, William Woodward (ref. 146) ), a wide
projecting balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade and
cantilevered brackets (of 1869 by Holland and Hannen (ref. 147) ),
and an extra storey (added by John Garlick in 1905 (ref. 148) ).
The windows are now straight-headed and are fitted with
casements instead of sashes on the first and second floors,
while the ground-floor openings are now filled with large
areas of plate glass. The brickwork, which was tuck
pointed at some time, has been painted red.
The few interior features of note date from remodellings
in 1904–7, firstly as a speculation by John Garlick, the
builder, and then by Trollope and Colls for the new owner,
Walter Spencer Morgan Burns, a nephew of Pierpont
Morgan and a partner in his firm. (ref. 149) There is some applied
plasterwork in the main rooms in decorators' French style
and a large, toplit staircase with an iron balustrade topped
by brass urns.
In 1926–8 the house was converted into showrooms and
workrooms for a dressmaking firm by Trehearne and
Norman. (ref. 146)
Occupants include: 1st Earl of Uxbridge, 1726–43: his wid.,
1744–8. Sir William Irby, 2nd bt., latterly 1st Baron Boston,
1750–75 (previously at No. 46): his son, 2nd Baron, 1775–1825.
Dow. Countess of Aylesford, wid. of 4th Earl, 1826–32: her son,
5th Earl, 1835–45. Dow. Marchioness of Downshire, wid. of 3rd
Marquess, 1845–55: with her son-in-law and da., Alexander
Hood, later 3rd Baron and 1st Viscount Bridport, and Lady Mary
Hood, 1850–5. 17th Baron Willoughby De Broke, 1856–62: his
son, 18th Baron, 1863. Sir Henry Meux, 2nd bt., 1868–9. Henry
Sturt, latterly 1st Baron Alington, 1870–83. Earl Carrington,
later Marquess of Lincolnshire, politician, 1895–1904.
No. 51
No. 51 is unique among the surviving Georgian houses
on the south side of Grosvenor Street in not having been
raised by an extra storey, thus retaining its original three
main storeys and garrets. (Its five-windows-wide façade is
shown, restored to its presumed original state, in a
measured drawing reproduced as fig. 2b in vol. XXXIX.) The
long and short quoins at the sides are now stuccoed and a
stucco bandcourse has been added between the second
and third storeys, but the principal alterations date from
1868 when a Doric portico and a balcony with an ornate
iron balustrade were erected to the designs of the estate
surveyor, Thomas Cundy III. (ref. 150) Cundy originally proposed that the balustrade should be of stone but
substituted one of iron at the suggestion of Earl
Grosvenor, the second Marquess's heir and later first
Duke of Westminster. Most of the windows are segmentalheaded with Victorian sashes or modern plate glass
inserted, but on the first floor the openings have been
changed to straight-headed ones and fitted with casements.
The brickwork has now been very crudely painted
crimson.
Built under the same agreement as Nos. 50 and 52, No.
51 was leased in 1724 to Israel Russell, painter-stainer. (ref. 151)
From the start it was clearly one of the most desirable
houses on the estate and was sold in 1726 by Russell for
£3,900 to Sir John Werden, baronet. (ref. 152) Werden's eldest
daughter, Lucy, was married to Charles Beauclerk, second
Duke of St. Albans, and in 1726–7 the Duke himself was
also living in his father-in-law's new house. (ref. 3) In 1732
Werden agreed to sell the house for £4,200 to Lord John
Russell, who barely had a chance to take up residence in his
new purchase before he succeeded as fourth Duke of
Bedford in the same year and moved to Bedford House,
Bloomsbury, (ref. 153) but not before Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Russell's grandmother, had an opportunity
to inspect the house, with its red damask and white-painted
panelling, and declare herself in general satisfied. (ref. 154)
The interior has, however, been virtually rebuilt in the
course of a number of alterations which were made during
the nineteenth century. Henry Harrison did work here,
apparently both for Sir Jacob Astley who occupied the
house briefly in 1826 and for the next occupant, the 11th
Earl of Kinnoull. (ref. 155) In 1835 the house was stated to 'have
been improved within the last few years at considerable
expense'. (ref. 156) Notwithstanding this, a further remodelling
was undertaken in 1836 to the designs of Lewis Vulliamy
for John Mansfield of Digswell House, Hertfordshire. The
work included the rebuilding of a rear wing. (ref. 157)
The main staircase is now in a central toplit compartment and has unusual balusters composed of diamondpatterned iron struts between wooden uprights. This
replaced a front-compartment staircase which may have
had frescoes on the walls. (ref. 158) Also dating from the
nineteenth century is a large double room on the ground
floor lit at the back by a bow window with massive castiron columns.
In 1926 the house was adapted for a firm of dressmakers, (ref. 159) and has subsequently been in office use. The
interior is now much partitioned and many of the
decorative features have been covered.
Occupants include: Sir John Werden, 2nd bt., 1726–8: his
son-in-law, 2nd Duke of St. Albans, 1726–7: the latter's brother,
Lord William Beauclerk, 1729–31. Lord John Russell, latterly
4th Duke of Bedford, 1732–3. Lord George (Manners-)Sutton,
younger son of 3rd Duke of Rutland, 1764–83. Archibald
Douglas, latterly 1st Baron Douglas, 1784–93. Francis Charteris,
known as Lord Elcho, nephew of David Wemyss, who, but for his
attainder in 1746, would have been 6th Earl of Wemyss,
1793–1808 (previously at No. 32). Baron Eardley, 1808–24. Sir
Jacob Astley, 6th bt., and later 16th Baron Hastings, 1826. 11th
Earl of Kinnoull, 1826–34. 4th Earl of Rosslyn, 1880. Joseph
Moses Levy, founder of The Daily Telegraph, 1881–8.
No. 52
No. 52 was built in 1724–6, but virtually nothing of the
early-Georgian fabric remains. Even the red brickwork of
the façade looks to have been renewed, probably in 1854–5,
when the front was given its present form, making it
possibly the best surviving example of Estate policy at that
time in its well-conceived Italianate façade of four main
storeys, each five bays wide. (ref. 160) The typical accoutrements
of a Cundy refronting are fully displayed here, with
channelled stucco on the ground floor and channelled
quoins, a Doric open portico with a balcony on top,
individual balconettes to the first-floor windows, dressings
to all the windows, those on the first floor having
alternating triangular and segmental pediments, a bandcourse, a deep cornice on consoles and a crowning
balustrade above the new fourth storey, all executed in
Portland stone or cement; even the area railings were
renewed 'according to the improved pattern'. The builder
was J. Pryor of Regent Street (ref. 161) and his workmanship was
of the highest quality. (For illustrations of the front before
and after 1854–5 see figs. 16 and 17 and Plate 8c in vol.
XXXIX.)
The house was originally built by Benjamin Timbrell,
carpenter, and was the biggest—with a frontage of fifty
feet —of three houses erected under an agreement of 1720
(see No. 50). (ref. 145) Timbrell was granted a building lease in
November 1724, (ref. 162) and in March of the following year
agreed to sell the house, then still unfinished, to Sir
Thomas Hanmer, ex-Speaker of the House of Commons,
for £4,250. (ref. 163) The house was completed over some
eighteen months and Hanmer paid Timbrell in instalments as the work proceeded. The builder deducted £60
from the stated price, 'for the Staircase', presumably
because Hanmer had called in the eminent Swiss-Italian
stuccatore, Giovanni Bagutti, to embellish the staircase
compartment at a cost of £80. (ref. 164) The compartment must
have combined fine panelling in its lower parts with plaster
enrichment above, for at No. 34 Grosvenor Street the oak
panelling on Hanmer's staircase was taken as a model. (ref. 95)
Nothing of this work at No. 52 survives. Among other
craftsmen who were paid small amounts by Hanmer was
Michael Rysbrack who received £20 'by the hand of Mr
Gibbes for carving in my two large Chimney-pieces'.
Rysbrack was James Gibbs's protégé when he first came to
England in 1720 and this cryptic reference to Gibbs may
mean only that the architect was still acting as the
sculptor's agent. (Hanmer did, however, subscribe to
Gibbs's A Book of Architecture in 1728, as to some other
such publications.) As with Bagutti's plasterwork, there are
no chimneypieces which could be attributed to Rysbrack
remaining in the house. The largest single sum paid out by
Hanmer (except to Timbrell) was £600 to 'Mr Cox the
Upholsterer' (probably John Cox of Covent Garden (ref. 165) ), but
this may not have been solely for furnishings at Grosvenor
Street. (ref. 164)
For over 130 years from 1765 the house was owned by
the Pleydell-Bouveries, but few of the alterations made for
this wealthy family can be documented. Charles Elliott,
upholsterer, was paid for work at Grosvenor Street in 1798
and probably later, and William Pilkington, a pupil of Sir
Robert Taylor, was in charge of 'repairs' there in
1809–13. (ref. 166) By 1852 there was a fine sweeping staircase at
the centre of the house. (ref. 167)
In 1854–5 Viscount Folkestone, in addition to carrying
out the improvements to the front required by the Estate,
built two bays, one on each side of the garden, but these
have since been extended and further altered. (ref. 168)
In 1898–9 works were carried out to the designs of
Frederick Todd, architect, for William Tebb, a speculator,
who had bought the house from the fifth Earl of Radnor,
including the provision of a new entrance door and steps. (ref. 169)
But inside, most of the present features of note appear to
date from a further remodelling which was undertaken in
1902–4 for the Hon. William Peel, subsequently first Earl
Peel. The work was put into the hands of Hooydonk and
Company, decorative artists, and as Peel was later said to
have spent £8,000 to £10,000 on permanent improvements of a structural nature, (ref. 170) their scheme must have
been extensive. A double drawing-room on the first floor
was treated in a Louis XV rococo manner with panelling
on the walls, perhaps incorporating genuine boiseries,
ornamental plasterwork on the ceiling to match, and
marble chimneypieces (Plate 13c); and a toplit library,
presumably situated in one of the wings, was given heavy
wooden panelling and beams to the ceiling. (ref. 171) The
drawing-room survives, but unsympathetically decorated.
Hooydonks' work included a 'Georgian Room' and
'Japanese Room' and perhaps a new staircase; and most of
the surviving features on the ground floor, which include
two elaborate ceilings in a late eighteenth-century manner
and marble chimneypieces, were also probably executed
by them. (ref. 172)
Since Lord Peel left the house in 1928 it has been used
for clubs, flats or businesses. (ref. 7) One of the flats was occupied
by the fashionable decorator, Denham Maclaren, who, in
1931, redecorated another flat in the house with drastic*******
black and white décor and furniture to match in a scheme
which was written up in Harper's Bazaar. (ref. 173)
Occupants include: Sir Thomas Hanmer, 4th bt., Speaker of
the House of Commons, 1726–46. Rev. Sir William Bunbury, 5th
bt., 1746–8. Baron Feversham of Downton, 1750–63: his wid.,
1763–5: her 2nd husband, 1st Earl of Radnor, 1765–76: his wid.,
1776–95. Richard Aldworth-Neville, latterly 2nd Baron Braybrooke, 1796–1803. 2nd Earl of Radnor, 1804–28: his wid.,
1828–9: their son, 3rd Earl, 1829–53: the latter's son, Viscount
Folkestone, latterly 4th Earl, 1852–89: the latter's son, 5th Earl,
1889–96. William Peel, latterly 2nd Viscount Peel and later 1st
Earl Peel, statesman, 1902–28.
No. 53
No. 53 was erected in 1963–5 as part of a development
which included Nos. 13–27 (odd) Davies Street and 2–4
(even) Mount Row to the designs of Sir John Burnet, Tait
and Partners. (ref. 174) The four-bay façade to Grosvenor Street
was, however, treated entirely differently from the other
frontages and was given a reticent neo-Georgian character
to harmonize with No. 54, at the corner with Davies Street,
which had been rebuilt some eight years previously.
The house which was demolished to make way for the
new building was one of the most unfortunate of recent
losses on the estate. It was erected under a sub-lease
granted to John Neale, carpenter, in 1725 by Thomas
Barlow, the estate surveyor, who had a head lease of this
particular plot. (ref. 175) It had a finely conceived five-bay façade
of three storeys of brown brick with red-brick rubbers
used in wide bands around the windows, and low-ceilinged
garrets with segmental-headed dormer windows. The only
major additions to this façade were a Greek Doric portico
and balcony with iron railings, which dated from the end of
the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century
(Plate 8c in vol. XXXIX). In 1928 the Estate acquired the
leasehold interest in order to provide greater depth of site
for a proposed redevelopment on the west side of Davies
Street. (ref. 176) From 1929 to 1934 a tenancy was held by the
interior decorator and member of the firm of White Allom,
the Marchese Malacrida, who occupied flats here where
the striking Florentine treatment attracted attention. In
1934 he converted the house further into offices and flats in
'this transitional period of Grosvenor Street from
residential to commercial'. (ref. 177) The house was damaged, by
no means irreparably, by bombing in 1940 (ref. 178) and
subsequently demolished.
Occupants include: Earl of Arran (in Ireland), 1726–58: his
sister, Lady Amelia Butler, 1758–60: their cousins, John Butler,
1760–6, and Walter Butler, 1766–74, de jure 15th and 16th Earls
of Ormonde. 7th Baron Kinnaird, banker, 1782–1805: his son,
8th Baron, 1805–12. Dow. Baroness Saltoun, wid. of 16th Baron,
1817–20. 2nd Baron Sherborne, 1820–33. Robert Henry Clive,
younger son of 1st Earl of Powis, 1834–54: his wid., latterly suo
jure Baroness Windsor, 1854–69: her son, Lieut.-col. George
Herbert Windsor Windsor-Clive and Lady Mary WindsorClive, 1871–7: Lady Mary Windsor-Clive, 1878, and with 14th
Baron Windsor, later 1st Earl of Plymouth, 1878–84: 14th Baron
Windsor, 1885–98. Dow. Countess of Dudley, wid. of 1st Earl,
1901–2. Lord Henry and Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck,
younger brothers of 6th Duke of Portland, 1905–19. 3rd Baron
Hillingdon, partner in Glyn, Mills and Co., bankers, 1920–8.
Marchese Malacrida, 1929–34. Sir Archibald Clark Kerr,
K.C.M.G., later Baron Inverchapel, diplomatist, 1935–41.
No. 54.
The present six-storey building on this site,
which has six bays to Davies Street and three to Grosvenor
Street, was built in 1955–6 to the designs of S. M. Haines,
the staff architect of Comet Properties, who were the
developers, in a style which accords with the neo-Georgian
traditions of pre-war architecture on the estate. (ref. 179)
The house which previously stood on the site was totally
destroyed by bombing in 1940. (ref. 178) It, in turn, had been
rebuilt by Thomas Cubitt in 1837–8, (ref. 180) replacing a house
built in 1725 by John Neale, carpenter, under similar
arrangements to No. 53 (see above), (ref. 181) and in a similar
manner but with lower storey heights (see Plate 8c in vol.
XXXIX). John Soane surveyed this house in 1809 for a new
owner, Earl Temple. His drawings survive, but there is no
indication that he carried out any alterations. (ref. 182)
Occupants include: Sir Robert Clayton, 3rd bt., 1771–4.
Marquess of Worcester, later 6th Duke of Beaufort, 1793–1803.
Earl Temple, latterly 2nd Marquess of Buckingham and later 1st
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, 1809–14, 1817–20. 2nd Earl
of Glengall, 1821–8: his mother, wid. of 1st Earl, 1829–36. 5th
Baron Suffield, 1872–4. Sir John Walrond Walrond, 1st bt., 1880.
Lady Beatrice Lister-Kaye, wife of (Sir) Cecil Lister-Kaye, later
4th bt., 1887.
Nos. 55–57 (consec.)
Nos. 55–57 (consec.) were rebuilt with Nos. 4–26
(even) Davies Street in 1910–12 (see page 74).
Occupants include: No. 56, John Dalrymple, ophthalmic
surgeon, 1843–7 (subsequently at No. 60). Charles Keetley,
surgeon, 1890–1909. No. 57, Lady Stapleton, wid. of Sir William
Stapleton, 3rd bt., 1725–33. Sir Robert Cotton, 5th bt., 1784–8.
Capt. (latterly Adm. Sir) Charles Howe Fremantle, G.C.B.,
1850–69: his wid., 1869–77. (Sir) Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, (kt.),
politician, 1881–5 (subsequently at No. 6).
No. 58
No. 58 was built under a sub-lease granted to John
Green, joiner, in 1724 by Thomas Barlow, the estate
surveyor, who held a lease of all of the south side of
Grosvenor Street between Davies Street and the estate
boundary. (ref. 183) All that remains of Green's house is the
much-altered façade and perhaps some panelling on the
second floor. The remainder of the interior dates
principally from 1907–9 when extensive alterations were
made in two stages. In 1907–8 £10,000 was spent on the
house by the 7th Earl (later 1st Marquess) of Aberdeen;
the architect was J. D. Coleridge and the builders were
W. D. Hodges and Company. (ref. 184) Almost immediately on
completion of the work Lord Aberdeen sold the house, and
the new owner, Herbert Samuelson, and his wife had it
refurbished yet again to suit their tastes. This work, which
was put in the hands of Charles Mellier and Company,
included the installation of a new main staircase and a lift
and the addition of a ballroom on the ground floor. (ref. 185) In
1936 the house was converted into offices by Anns and
Haigh. (ref. 186)
The present red-brick façade of four main storeys and a
garret storey owes little to its Georgian origins (Plate 47a in
vol. XXXIX, on left). The fourth storey was added in
1907–8 (ref. 187) and the windows have been given stone
architraves, while the ground floor is taken up with two
dignified wooden shop windows set in polished stone
surrounds and an elaborate wooden doorcase, all dating
from the alterations of 1936. (ref. 188) A thin, geometrical iron
balustrade in front of the lengthened first-floor windows
also dates from 1936 and completes the essential modernity
of the front.
Inside the Edwardian work is of high quality. A large
entrance hall divided into three bays by shallow beams and
wide pilasters leads to a central compartment lit by an oval
toplight containing a wall-hung staircase of wood with
carved step-ends and a wrought-iron balustrade in the
Georgian manner. More excellent ironwork is found in the
gates to the back stairs and lift. Much decorative work has
been lost in the conversion to office use, but the former
main drawing-room at the front of the house has been little
touched. Here the style is of the 1740's with plaster panels
and other decorative work on the walls, a modillion
cornice, and rococo plasterwork on the ceiling of the kind
popularized by Isaac Ware at Chesterfield House. There
are now few good chimneypieces in the house, but this
room has a simple marble one with fluted columns, and a
more elaborate one, also of marble, with terms, is in the
entrance hall.
Occupants include: Baron Ranelagh, 1726–54: his wid.,
1754–5: her 2nd husband, Sir John Elwill, 4th bt., 1755–78: his
wid. (styled Lady Ranelagh), 1778–81: her son-in-law, Lionel
Felten Harvey, 1781–5. Sir John Smith of Sydling St. Nicholas,
1st bt., 1787–99. Dow. Countess of Ely, wid. of 1st Earl, 1808–21.
Adm. Frank Sotheron, 1828–40. Hon. Mrs. Fitzroy, 1841–50:
her kinsman, 3rd Baron Southampton, 1852–61. Adm. Arthur
Duncombe, younger son of 1st Baron Feversham, 1862–73.
George Palmer, biscuit manufacturer, 1884–7 (previously at No.
68). Col. (later Maj.-gen. Sir) Reginald Talbot, (K.C.B.), later
Governor of Victoria, 1889–99. 7th Earl and later 1st Marquess of
Aberdeen, sometime Governor General of Canada, 1900–8. (Sir)
Herbert Samuelson, Chairman and Treasurer of University
College Hospital, (K.B.E.), 1910–36.
No. 59
No. 59 was built under a sub-lease granted in 1725 to
David Audsley, plasterer, by Thomas Barlow, the estate
surveyor, who was also the head lessee and developer of
this stretch of Grosvenor Street. (ref. 189) In 1905 the house was
described as 'very old fashioned', (ref. 190) and in 1909–10 £8,000
were spent on major alterations and renovations for Ralph
Lambton, a wealthy banker, by White Allom and
Company in conjunction with the architect Robert
Oglesby, who was associated with the firm. The builder
was C. P. Roberts of St. Paul's Road. (ref. 191)
The house now has four main storeys and garrets, but
the fourth storey was added in 1909–10 (ref. 192) and the original
three storeys are marked by rusticated brick pilaster strips
at the sides, a plain cornice and elaborate stone or stucco
embellishments. These include a Doric portico with a
balcony above, individual balconettes with ornate iron
railings in front of the first-floor windows, and wide
architraves to the windows with triple keystones on the
first and second floors and pediments above those of the
first floor: the windows were originally segmental-headed.
All of these particularly attractive features were added by
White Allom in 1910 with the exception of the portico
(which was erected in 1869 to the designs of Mayhew and
Knight and enclosed in 1910), and it is surprising that on the
fourth storey, which was then being built, the windows do
not have dressings (although this also happened at No. 25
Grosvenor Square, see page 142). (ref. 193)
In 1906 Eustace Balfour, the estate surveyor, stated that
the 'covered main staircase … must not be removed
without permission', and the Board was later informed that
Lambton 'likes the staircase'. (ref. 194) The result is the survival
of the fine staircase compartment at the front of the house,
probably with little alteration but much restoration. It
consists of a double-storey hall with the staircase rising
around three sides to a gallery at first-floor level in a
manner common to many early-Georgian houses. The
wooden staircase itself is also of a familiar type with carved
step-ends, three turned and twisted balusters per tread,
fluted newel columns and a moulded handrail ramped over
the newels and voluted at the bottom, with a corresponding dado-rail and fluted pilasters on the wall side (Plate 9d
in vol. XXXIX). Above the staircase is a richly ornamented
plaster ceiling which has a deep cornice with modillions
and rosettes, irregular panels with moulded frames and a
large, plain central compartment within a wide border
enriched with a band of oak leaves.
There are two secondary staircases, one starting from
first-floor level, and both of 1909–10, but elsewhere it is
difficult to disentangle Georgian features from skilful
Edwardian additions. Many of the cornices and no doubt
much of the panelling which is found throughout are of the
later period, as are several of the fireplaces, although in the
ground-floor front room the chimneypiece may consist of a
Georgian marble fireplace with a later overmantel.
Among the Edwardian alterations was the rebuilding of
the mews building at the rear. The Board did not want any
new stabling there and 'not even a garage', and so instead
Lambton built a racquets court with bedrooms above. (ref. 195)
White Allom housed them in a building of much character,
with rusticated brick pilasters, a bull's-eye window, a
prominent eaves cornice and a tiled roof, linked to the main
house by a corridor with a glazed arcade treated in an
equally Baroque manner.
Occupants include: Sir Robert Rich, 4th bt., later field
marshal, 1726–42. 4th Marquess of Tweeddale, 1744–62: his
wid., 1762–78. Sir Thomas Beauchamp-Proctor, 2nd bt., 1780–7.
Sir Henry Dashwood of Kirtlington, 3rd bt., 1788–9. John
Weyland, either the writer on the poor laws or his father,
1799–1825. Lord William Bentinck, Governor General of India,
1826–31. 2nd Earl of Charlemont, 1832–5 (later at No. 49). Lord
William Bentinck, 1835–9: his wid., 1841–3: her nephew,
Viscount Acheson, latterly 3rd Earl of Gosford, 1843–64: his
wid., and his son, 4th Earl, 1864–8. Sir Charles Lowther, 3rd bt.,
1869–94: his younger son, James Lowther, politician, 1869–1904.
Ralph Lambton, 1909–14. Baron Maurice de Forest, politician,
1915–24.
No. 60
No. 60 was built under a sub-lease in 1723 to John
Neale, carpenter, from Thomas Barlow, the estate
surveyor, who held the head lease of this part of Grosvenor
Street. (ref. 196) In 1725 Neale sold the house to the celebrated
actress Anne Oldfield, who lived there until her death in
1730. (ref. 197) According to a memoir of her life published
shortly after her death, she paid £2,200 for the house—a
very high sum for a modest house with only a twenty-fourfoot frontage, even though it had spacious grounds at the
rear. (ref. 198) Of Anne Oldfield's house only the façade of brown
brick with rubbed red-brick dressings to its segmentalheaded windows survives and even this has been considerably altered. A large plate-glass shop front has been
inserted on the ground floor (at the time of writing in 1978
in process of further alteration), individual iron window
guards have been added to the lengthened first-floor
windows, and the house was heightened by a storey during
the nineteenth century. In 1897 the interior was destroyed
by fire and virtually completely rebuilt to the designs of
Fabian Russell. (ref. 199)
Occupants include: Anne Oldfield, actress, 1725–30. Charles
Bosanquet, ?City merchant, 1814–23. John Dalrymple, ophthalmic surgeon, 1847–52 (previously at No. 56). John Edward Tilt,
physician, 1861–76. 7th Earl De La Warr, 1879–96. 7th Viscount
Galway, 1918–20.
Nos. 61–63 (consec.)
Nos. 61–63 (consec.) are three narrow red-brick and
stone houses with balconies at first-floor level supported by
large, rounded brackets, canted bays on the first and
second floors, and prominent triangular gables half
obscuring very large dormer windows behind. They were
built by John Garlick as a speculation in 1904–6. (ref. 200)
Garlick's architect was R. G. Hammond, and it was almost
certainly he who was responsible for these rather
pedestrian elevations. An obituary of Eustace Balfour, the
estate surveyor, claimed, however, that he was the
architect for rebuilding on the sites of Nos. 61 and 62
(which are exactly similar houses to No. 63). (ref. 201)
Balfour was involved at one time during rebuilding, for
in December 1904 he stated that he had been asked to
design one house for the 5th Earl of Wilton in place of two
of the proposed houses. (ref. 202) This house may well have been
begun, for in July 1905 Balfour and Turner were given
consent by the London County Council to erect projecting
bay windows and a porch at a house on the site of Nos. 61
and 62, (ref. 203) but Lord Wilton must have withdrawn. In
November 1905 Garlick gave notice that he was about to
'pull down and rebuild' two houses, (ref. 204) and as the previous
houses on the site had been demolished in 1904 (ref. 205) this
suggests that the partly built house for Lord Wilton was in
effect demolished and Hammond's original design reverted to.
Occupants include: No. 61, Lady Allen, ?wid. of Sir William
Allen, 1st bt., 1725–36. Lady Louisa Dawson, da. of 1st Earl of
Portarlington, 1814–23. Lionel Smith Beale, physician and
microscopist, 1860–1904. No. 62, 2nd Baron Haversham,
1730–4. 1st Viscount Galway, 1748. 5th Earl of Pomfret,
1850–67. No. 63, Edward Smith, physician, 1856–9.
Nos. 64 and 65
Nos. 64 and 65 were designed to be built as a uniform
block of shops, showrooms, and workrooms to the designs
of George Anag in 1937. In the event only No. 65 could be
built before the war of 1939–45 and No. 64 was not erected
until 1957–9, still to Anag's designs but with modifications
by G. Langley-Taylor and Partners. (ref. 206)
The result is an unremarkable pair of commercial
buildings in red brick with stone dressings, six windows
wide and seven storeys high, the top storey being set back
with dormer windows.
Occupants include: No. 64, (Sir) Francis Wood, latterly 1st
bt., 1782–95. 'South American Ambassador', 1827–8. Maj.-gen.
William Nassau Lees, orientalist, 1886–9. Dow. Duchess of
Newcastle, wid. of 6th Duke, 1904–7. No. 65, Sir William
Fordyce, kt., surgeon, 1791. (Sir) John Grant Lawson, 1st bt.,
1903–6.
No. 66
No. 66, despite later additions, is still recognizable as
the early-Georgian house which was built under a sublease granted in 1723 to Joshua Fletcher, mason, by
Thomas Barlow, the estate surveyor and head lessee of this
part of Grosvenor Street. (ref. 207) The façade of brown brick
with red-brick dressings to the straight-headed windows,
has retained its original three main storeys, but a porch and
balcony have been added (probably in 1793–4), and two
further storeys within a high-pitched roof behind a stone
balustrade replaced the original garrets in 1912, when the
horizontally coursed brick pilaster strips also appear to
have been added (ref. 208) (Plate 11a). Large panes of plate glass
have now been inserted in the ground floor in place of
sashes and the area has been covered over and the railings
removed.
In the interior no early-Georgian work survives, but
some of the 'very great improvements' made by Charles
Elliott, upholsterer, in 1793–4 remain. (ref. 209) Elliott bought the
house, together with three others in Grosvenor Street, in
1792 at an auction of the property which had once
belonged to Thomas Barlow. (ref. 210) He was certainly responsible for the main stone staircase (Plate 14c) which
rises in sweeping curves around a toplit inner hall and has a
balustrade identical with that of the similarly positioned
staircase at No. 18 Upper Grosvenor Street (Plate 61a),
which house was altered by Elliott at about the same date.
(The balustrade itself was perhaps supplied by Underwood, Bottomly and Hamble, fanlight makers of High
Holborn, see page 229.) The front room on the ground
floor, which has a cornice in an Adamesque manner, a
ceiling with a roundel painting of muses in the centre and
door architraves in a similar style, is perhaps also Elliott's
work. On the exterior the Doric porch with an unusual
blank panel in the centre of the entablature (Plate 11a) is
very similar to the porch at No. 18 Upper Grosvenor
Street and must be by Elliott, although the plinths to the
columns were altered in 1912. (ref. 211) The balcony with its
delicate wrought-iron balustrade also looks to be Elliott's.
The supporting cast-iron brackets were, however, added
in 1876. (ref. 212)
In 1872 the builder William Longridge made alterations
to the interior to the designs of E. M. Barry for James
Lloyd Ashbury, industrialist and later M.P. for Brighton,
but, apart from improvements to the kitchens, the extent
of these works is not known. (ref. 213)
In 1912 Arthur Hanbury of Pont Street bought the
house and spent some £6,000 on it, including the
alterations to the top storeys already mentioned and
modernisation of the stabling at the rear to include a
billiard-room. The architect was Lucas (probably William) and the builders were Harris and Wardrop. (ref. 214)
In the following year Hanbury, who 'found that he
could not afford to live in the house', sold it for £20,000 to
Robert Emmet of Moreton Paddox in Warwickshire. (ref. 215)
Emmet, who was born in New York and married the
daughter of a New York banker, had settled in England in
1900. (ref. 216) At No. 66 his architect, W. H. Romaine-Walker,
transformed the first floor using genuine French boiseries
sent from Paris by Carlhian-Beaumetz. Romaine-Walker
made a wide opening with Ionic columns and pilasters
between the front and rear rooms to create a large double
drawing-room (Plate 15a). Here Louis XVI panelling from
the Couvent des Soeurs de Saint Maur in the Rue de
l'Abbé Grégoire was installed. This includes not only tall,
elegant wall panelling, but also smaller carved and giltenriched panels, door and window architraves, and pierglasses. (ref. 217) Romaine-Walker also replaced the chimneypieces with new ones, probably of his own designing, to
harmonize with the decorations. (ref. 218) These rooms, which
have survived virtually intact, also have fine parquet
flooring. At the rear of the first floor another room in a wing
extending into the garden was converted into a boudoir
and lined with Louis XV oak panelling with rocaille
carving taken from a hôtel which once belonged to the
Carambacères family, probably one which stood in the Rue
de l'Université. (fn. 217) This room also survives intact. The
entrance hall also seems to be largely by Romaine-Walker.
The builders for the alterations of 1913–14 were Litchfield
and Company of Bruton Street. (ref. 219)
The house continued in private occupation until 1936.
In the following year it was converted into a millinery and
dressmaking establishment and has since remained in
commercial use. (ref. 220)
Occupants include: 2nd Baron Barnard, 1725–9. Earl of
Dalkeith, latterly 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, 1730–8 (previously at
No. 69, also at No. 67). Sir William Parsons, 2nd bt., 1739.
Marquess of Carnarvon, later 2nd Duke of Chandos, 1740–4. 2nd
Earl of Stair, general and diplomatist, 1744–6. 4th Baron
Botetourt, 1764–70. 10th Earl (later 1st Marquess) of Exeter,
1796–7 (previously at Nos. 71–72). 5th Earl of Plymouth,
1797–9: his wid.'s 2nd husband, 2nd Baron (latterly 1st Earl)
Amherst, diplomatist and statesman, 1800–57. 4th Earl of
Carnarvon, statesman, 1865–72. James Lloyd Ashbury, industrialist, 1872–81. 7th Earl of Hopetoun, later 1st Marquess of
Linlithgow, first Governor General of Australia, 1900–1. Victor
Cazalet, M.P., 1928–36.
No. 67
No. 67, although much altered, has never been
completely rebuilt. The house was erected under a sublease granted in 1723 to Thomas Cook and Caleb
Waterfield, carpenters, by Thomas Barlow, the estate
surveyor and developer of this part of Grosvenor Street. (ref. 221)
The adjoining house, No. 68, was also sub-let to Cook and
Waterfield in 1723, (ref. 222) and the two houses, which have
common storey heights, have recently been integrated.
The façade of No. 67, which is four windows wide and has
four storeys and garrets, has been stuccoed. The fourth
storey is a later addition, and the windows, which are now
straight-headed, were probably originally segmentalheaded as at No. 68. A pseudo-Georgian bowed shop front
has recently been inserted in the ground floor, but the
doorcase, which is of wood and consists of Corinthian
pilasters supporting a thin hood and which now looks illproportioned, may incorporate the original pilasters and
jambs. An inventory of 1742 describes the house as having
'a wood fronticepiece after the corinthian order fully
enricht covered with lead', (ref. 223) and a drawing of 1881 shows
the pilasters to have been then surmounted by an
elaborately carved entablature with a deep cornice which
has since been stripped away. (ref. 224) In 1742 there were outside
shutters to the ground-floor windows. Inside, all the rooms
below the garrets were panelled (at least one, on the second
floor, to full height), and had marble or, in some bedrooms,
Portland-stone chimneypieces. (Ten years before, three of
the bedrooms were designated as 'crimson damask', 'green
mohair' and 'green damask'. (ref. 225) ) The great stairs, which
survived until 1978, had wooden 'fluted and twist
balusters', fluted newel posts and carved brackets. The
dining-room extended across the first-floor front. At the
end of the garden was a panelled alcove 'after the dorick
order'. (ref. 223)
William Cubitt and Company made alterations to the
house in 1881, probably including the addition of a large
double-storey extension at the rear, (ref. 226) but a fire in 1936
which 'severely damaged' the upper storeys (ref. 227) and a recent
remodelling of the lower storeys which is still in progress at
the time of writing (1978) has denuded the interior of most
features of interest. In 1975 the first-floor front room
contained a mid-Georgian white marble fireplace with
fluted sides and a bas-relief in the centre, and a room on the
second floor had eighteenth-century pine panelling reassembled from elsewhere.
Occupants include: Lady Strafford, wid. of 2nd Earl, 1725–32.
2nd Duke of Buccleuch, 1733–42 (previously as Earl of Dalkeith
at Nos. 66 and 69). Ambrose Dawson, physician, 1750–73. Dow.
Lady Suffield, wid. of 1st Baron, 1813–21. Col. George HelyHutchinson, brother of 3rd Earl of Donoughmore, 1826–45.
Wilson Fox, physician, 1871–87. Viscount Coke, latterly 3rd Earl
of Leicester, 1901–12.
No. 68
No. 68 is a stucco-fronted three-bay house with a
basement, four storeys and an attic. It has segmentalheaded windows and is basically an early-Georgian house,
although much altered inside and out. It was built in 1723
by Thomas Cook and Caleb Waterfield, carpenters (see
No. 67 above).
Apart from the stuccoing of the façade, the house has
almost certainly been raised by a storey, and an open
portico with thick, graceless Corinthian columns and a
balcony above with simple iron railings have been added
(Plate 11b). The portico was erected in 1867 to the designs
of Henry McCalla, (ref. 228) and the balcony may be of the same
date.
In 1910 extensive repairs were carried out to the designs
of Banister Fletcher and Sons, including the conversion of
the stables to a garage (since again rebuilt), (ref. 229) but little of
interest survives inside the house, which is again being
remodelled at the time of writing (1978).
An unusual episode in the history of the house occurred
between 1801 and 1819 when it housed Richard Du
Bourg's museum of cork models of antique ruins. (ref. 230)
Occupants include: Brig.-gen. Richard Ingoldsby, 1732–59.
Sir Henry Wyatt, 1831–9. Rev. Lord Frederick Beauclerk,
younger son of 5th Duke of St. Albans, 1840–50: his wid.,
1850–66. Robert Bourke, later Baron Connemara, 1875–80 (later
at No. 43). George Palmer, biscuit manufacturer, 1881–3 (later at
No. 58).
No. 69
No. 69 is a stucco-fronted house, four windows wide
and having four main storeys plus garrets (Plate 11b).
Although its outward appearance is now almost entirely of
the nineteenth century, it was built under a sub-lease
granted in 1723 to Benjamin Timbrell, carpenter, by
Thomas Barlow, who was both the estate surveyor and the
head lessee of this stretch of Grosvenor Street. (ref. 231)
Most of the façade probably dates from 1851 when the
Jewish architect David Mocatta submitted plans for
alterations, including an extra storey, to the Grosvenor
Board on behalf of a new owner, Leon Solomon. The
Board required certain changes, including the addition of a
Doric portico. (ref. 232) The distinctive window dressings,
however, are likely to be of the architect's own designing,
as this method of updating early-Georgian façades was not
typical of the Grosvenor estate although it was used
elsewhere in London—in Henrietta Street, Covent
Garden, in 1859, for instance. (ref. 233) The builders were Haynes
and Company of Coleman Street. (ref. 234)
Inside, John Soane prepared the house in 1799–1800 for
the Dowager Duchess of Leeds but the work seems to have
been confined to repairs, wallpapering and painting. (ref. 235) In
1831 Henry Gally Knight, Member of Parliament,
traveller and writer on architecture and antiquities,
obtained an extension of his existing leasehold term in the
house on condition that he spent at least £1,000 in
additions and repairs. (ref. 236) Much later a number of alterations were made in 1903 and 1907 for the Ladies Empire
Club, three architects being involved, Alfred Burr, R. G.
Hammond (who was, as usual, working with John
Garlick's building firm) and John Johnson. (ref. 237)
The result is a very eclectic interior combining neoclassical, Italianate and neo-Georgian details. Particularly
remarkable is the main toplit staircase compartment where
the upper parts of the walls are decorated with anthemions
and other plasterwork details including pilasters with
unusual Composite capitals which have representations of
a goddess nestling among the acanthus leaves. The
staircase itself is wall-hung, of stone sharply cut away on
the undersides, with a heavy cast-iron balustrade of
interlacing scrolls and C-curves and a broad mahogany
handrail. The secondary staircase is also of stone with
another cast-iron balustrade in a similar but not identical
design (Plate 14a).
A new block at the rear, which replaced the existing
stabling in 1906–7, was designed by John Johnson. He
provided a large ground-floor reception room with
conventional Edwardian Georgian decor including two
elaborate chimneypieces. The builders were Dove
Brothers. (ref. 238)
Occupants include: Earl of Dalkeith, later 2nd Duke of
Buccleuch, 1725–9 (later at Nos. 66 and 67). Dow. Countess of
Dysart, wid. of 3rd Earl, 1731–40: her da., Dow. Marchioness of
Carnarvon, 1740–54. Dow. Duchess of Leeds, wid. of 5th Duke,
1800–20 (later at No. 73). Henry Gally Knight, writer on
architecture, 1828–46. 3rd Baron Kensington, 1864–72: his son,
4th Baron, 1872–96: the latter's son, 5th Baron, 1896–9.
No. 70
No. 70, a commercial building of seven storeys (the top
storey set back with dormer windows) faced with red
bricks and a modicum of stone dressings, was erected in
1960–4 to the designs of David Landaw and Partners. (ref. 239)
The previous house had been rebuilt or recast after a fire
in 1873. (ref. 240) In 1910 the estate surveyor, Eustace Balfour,
thought the staircase 'very fine', (ref. 241) and some panelling was
highly esteemed by the Estate in 1929. This was when the
house was being opulently remodelled by Oliver Hill for
the first Baron Forres in a well-publicized scheme. On the
ground floor Hill provided a simple, pine-panelled diningroom and a 'garden room' with cool marbling and
concealed lighting (Plate 13d). At first-floor level there was
a double drawing-room in pine, 'bleached silver-grey',
with Corinthian pilasters and a modillion cornice, also all
in wood. Sir Edwin Lutyens, as architectural adviser to
the Estate, had a hand in the design of the new panelling in
this room, which was installed by Lord Forres to replace
the admired panelling removed by the executors of the
previous lessee. (ref. 242) Lutyens, however, had nothing to do
with a mock-mediaeval music room which Hill built over
the garage at the rear and which had walls formed of a
composition of shell-pink marble dust and a hooded
fireplace of Verona marble. The builders were Holland and
Hannen and Cubitts and the carvers A. Broadbent and
Sons. (ref. 243)
Occupants include: 3rd Earl of Bute, later Prime Minister,
1748–52. Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th bt., 1757–9. William
Thorne, private hotel, 1863–74. Frederick Leverton Harris, art
collector, ship owner and politician, 1907–26. 1st Baron Forres,
company chairman and politician, 1930–1: his wid., 1931–4.
Nos. 71–72
Nos. 71–72, a single block of shops and offices, five bays
wide and seven storeys high, the topmost storey having
dormer windows, was erected in 1938–40 to the designs of
Anns and Haigh. (ref. 244) It is fully within the red-brick neoGeorgian tradition that prevailed on the estate during the
inter-war years.
Originally the site was occupied by one big house with a
forty-two-foot frontage which was erected by the master
builder Benjamin Timbrell in 1722–4. (ref. 245) Its first young
mistress, Lady Hertford, delighted in its complete
panelling, the good lighting of the back stairs, and the
remoteness of the kitchen. (ref. 246) In the early 1790's it boasted
an organ. (ref. 247) The house was converted into two by the
builder John Elger in 1841–2. (ref. 248)
Occupants include: No. 71, Earl of Hertford, later 7th Duke of
Somerset, 1724–48. Lord Burghley, latterly 9th Earl of Exeter,
1750–7, 1766–93: his mother, Dow. Countess, 1757–65: his
sister, Lady Elizabeth Chaplin, 1765–6: his nephew, 10th Earl,
later 1st Marquess, 1793–5 (later also at No. 66). Dow.
Marchioness of Bath, wid. of 1st Marquess, 1796–1825. No. 72,
(Sir) James Ronald Martin, kt., surgeon, 1850–61. Henry
Thomas Lowry Corry, politician, 1862–8. (Sir) Samuel Wilks,
physician, latterly bt., 1882–1901 (previously at No. 77). Sir
James Reid, physician, 1st bt., 1902–18: his wife (latterly wid.),
1919–37.
No. 73
No. 73 (formerly No. 72), which is four windows wide
and has three stuccoed storeys above a modern shop front,
was built in 1722–4 under a sub-lease granted by Thomas
Barlow, who held a head lease of this part of the street, to
John James, bricklayer, (ref. 249) but the house has been almost
totally transformed inside and out. In 1838–40 and again in
1851 alterations were made by John Elger, the builder, (ref. 250)
and he was probably responsible, at the latter date, for
raising the house by an extra storey (with straight-headed
windows in contrast to the segmental-headed ones
beneath), stuccoing the façade and providing a deep
cornice resting on consoles at roof level. The shop front was
installed by Collcutt and Hamp in 1928. (ref. 251)
Inside, a heavy oak dog-leg staircase, with thick
balusters in the lower stages changing to a wrought-iron
balustrade above first-floor level, is probably part of
alterations made in 1906–7 by the architects Kemp and
How, (ref. 252) and may incorporate portions of a Victorian back
stair at the upper level.
Occupants include: Sir Edward Ernle, 3rd bt., 1724–9. Sir
Baldwyn Connyers, 1729–31. 2nd Viscount Barrington, 1741–6.
Lady Widdrington, wid. of 4th Baron, 1747–57. Dow. Marchioness of Donegall, wid. of 1st Marquess, 1800–2. Matthew Baillie,
morbid anatomist, 1803–20. Dow. Duchess of Leeds, wid. of 5th
Duke, 1821–37 (previously at No. 69). Sir Arthur Paget, G.C.B.,
diplomatist, 1839–40.
No. 74
No. 74 (formerly No. 73) is an attractive four-storey
stuccoed house, four windows wide, with a Doric portico,
a continuous balcony behind a stucco balustrade resting on
ornate brackets at first-floor level, and a plain cornice at
third-floor level. There are also small iron window-box
holders of intricate design in front of the second-floor
windows. The windows, which are segmental-headed,
disclose by their shape and proportions the early-Georgian
origins of the house. It was built under a sub-lease granted
in 1722 to Stephen Whitaker, brickmaker, by Thomas
Barlow, the estate surveyor, who was also the leaseholder
of this part of the south side of Grosvenor Street. (ref. 253) The
builder of the house was probably John James, bricklayer,
who was a party to the sub-lease and who also built No. 73
adjoining, which has similar storey heights and window
openings.
In 1849 the house was raised by an extra storey and the
façade was altered to the designs of Thomas Cundy II, the
estate surveyor. (ref. 254) The portico and balcony were added in
1872 by Matthew Hackforth, builder and decorator,
replacing the original flat Doric doorcase. (ref. 255) Cement was
allowed to be used for these rather than stone as the front of
the house was already stuccoed.
Cundy's elevation was part of a major scheme of
remodelling undertaken in 1849–50 for the Devy family,
who combined the businesses of silk mercer, milliner and
court dressmaker. (ref. 256) The ground and first floors were
converted into offices and 'magasins' (although no external
show of business was allowed) and a small wing at the back
was rebuilt to provide domestic accommodation including
a dining-room and a small drawing-room. (ref. 257) The architect
and builder are unknown.
Despite these and later alterations, both the frontcompartment staircase and the secondary stairs behind
have retained their original position, but the main staircase
looks to have been much renewed. It is of wood with
carved step-ends, two barley-sugar balusters per tread and
plain newel posts. Immediately behind is a Georgian dogleg staircase with bulbous balusters and a simple rail. A
third staircase, of stone, was added at the rear of the
extension in 1849–50. There are raised-and-fielded
shutters to the front windows on the ground and first
floors, and the latter floor also has two very elaborate
chimneypieces with pilasters, broken scrolled pediments,
armorial bearings and inset oval paintings. The chimneypieces were perhaps fitted at some time between 1872
and 1919 when the house was in private occupation. (fn. 7)
There is a cistern dated 1724 in the front area.
Occupants include: Lord Compton, latterly 5th Earl of
Northampton, 1725–9. Sir John Shelley, 6th bt., 1809–15.
Viscount Holmesdale, latterly Baron Amherst, later 3rd Earl
Amherst, 1880–2. Baron De Brienen, 1886–7.
No. 75
No. 75 was built by George Trollope and Sons in
1912–14 to the designs of Edmund Wimperis, the estate
surveyor, and his new partner, William Begg Simpson. (ref. 258)
The previous house had been built before 1725 by Thomas
Barlow, carpenter, who was also the estate surveyor. (ref. 259) In
1906 the then estate surveyor Eustace Balfour, who
admired its 'original entrance doors and staircase', had been
willing to prolong its existence, but by 1912 Wimperis had
succeeded him, and the replacement of what he called an
'old and badly arranged house' proceeded. (ref. 260) The present
building is a neo-Georgian red-brick house with four main
storeys and another tall storey within a steeply pitched
roof. There are stone mask keystones to the windows of the
first two storeys and a deep modillion cornice in stone
above the third storey. A plain secondary cornice above the
fourth storey supports a metal balustrade which owes little
to Georgian precedent.
The doorcase, which is of wood with very elaborately
carved brackets supporting a flat hood, was salvaged from
the previous house on the site. (ref. 261)
The confident neo-Georgian style of the present house
was to become a hallmark of Wimperis's firm over the next
two decades, and its inception appears to date from the
arrival in the firm of Simpson, probably firstly as an
assistant and then as partner by 1913. The work inside the
house is equally accomplished, with good decorative
features in an early- and mid-Georgian manner.
Occupants include: Lady Dodington Montagu, da. of 1st
Duke of Manchester, 1741–73: her niece, Lady Caroline
Montagu, 1773–5. Alexander Patrick Stewart, physician,
1849–83. (Sir) Henry Montague Hozier, later K.C.B., secretary
of Lloyd's, 1886–92.
Nos. 76–78.
This block of offices was built in 1938–40
for Hillier, Parker, May and Rowden, the auctioneers and
surveyors, to the designs of P. Macpherson, a staff
architect with the firm. The contractors were Harry Neal
Limited. (ref. 262) It is a large building with six full storeys and an
additional storey in the roof. Although basically adhering
to the Grosvenor Estate's favoured neo-Georgian tradition
with red brickwork and sash windows, the façade is also
decked out with much stonework at the lower levels
including tall Ionic columns and other detail with a
Baroque flavour.
The chief interest of this site, however, lies in one of the
houses which was demolished for the new block. This was
No. 76 (formerly No. 75 until renumbered in 1866), which
was the London home of Robert and James Adam from
1758 until 1772. In January 1758 Robert Adam returned
from the Grand Tour and took the house shortly
afterwards, having realized that a fine house in London
would be needed 'to blind the world by dazzling their
eyesight with vain pomp'. (ref. 263) The Adam brothers set
antique marbles in the area wall, and drew up a number of
plans to transform their early-Georgian house. (ref. 264) One
provided for a large and very ornately decorated octagonal
room at the rear backing on to the mews. This was to have a
toplight in the centre of a domed and coffered ceiling, with
large niches in four of the sides to take some of the marbles
or plaster casts which had been acquired in Italy (Plate
15b, c). One scheme called for this room to be preceded by
a rectangular ante-room with two apses. The great room,
as the octagonal room was designated, was almost certainly
never built, and the extent of any other alterations is
unknown (although plans show the laundry-block had a
columned front to the garden by the 1790's (ref. 92) ). Negative
evidence suggests that perhaps little was done, an
advertisement for an auction of the house in 1809, when
the Adam brothers' fame was still high, making no
reference to any features by them, or, indeed, to any special
characteristics of the house. (ref. 265)
Occupants include: No. 76, Robert and James Adam,
architects, 1758–72. Lady Bulwer, wife of Sir Henry Lytton, later
Baron Dalling and Bulwer, diplomatist, 1868. (Sir) Arthur
Hayter, latterly 2nd bt., politician, 1869–80. Charles Hilton
Fagge, physician, 1882–3. No. 77, Lord Charles Hay, maj.-gen.,
son of 3rd Marquess of Tweeddale, 1757 (later at No. 46). Adm.
Sir Thomas Bladen Capel, K.C.B., 1839–48, 1850. Samuel
Wilks, physician, later bt., 1870–81 (later at No. 72). Arthur
C. N. Dixey, politician, 1929–31. No. 78, Jeremiah Meyer, ?
miniature painter, 1781–5.
Nos. 79 and 80
Nos. 79 and 80 (formerly Nos. 78 and 79) were built in
1852–3 to the designs of Sydney Smirke by Lucas and
Company of Lambeth. (ref. 266) The plot was formerly occupied
by the Mount Coffee House (later Mount Hotel), which
had been established on the site of No. 80 as early as 1721 (ref. 267)
and had expanded to take in the neighbouring house on the
site of the present No. 79 in c. 1810. (fn. 3) Smirke originally
planned to build only one house but submitted amended
designs for two houses in July 1852. (ref. 268)
No. 79 is a two-bay, four-storey house which is in part
built over the passageway leading from Grosvenor Street
to Grosvenor Hill, as its predecessor had been. The
remainder of the ground floor is now taken up by a shop
with plain glass fronts, but when built there was a normal
domestic entrance with a Doric doorcase here. The façade
above is now rendered but would originally have been
brick faced in the same manner as No. 80. The windows,
unusually, are wooden casements.
Because Grosvenor Street narrows considerably at this
point No. 80 has two elevations, one facing west down
Grosvenor Street and the other facing north on to the
narrow part of the street, the corner between them being
rounded. Smirke's drawings show only one large window
per floor, but additional windows have since been inserted
in both flanks. A Doric porch with a stone balustrade above
survives, but the rest of the ground floor is now given over
to a modern shop front. The remainder of the façade is faced
with brick —white Suffolks according to the specifications
but now of a distinctly grey hue—with Portland cement
stringcourses and a cornice. The large segmental-headed
windows on the first and second floors have cement
dressings but the other windows are plain with brick heads.
Smirke, himself, lived at No. 80 from 1853 to 1870. (fn. 7)
No. 81
No. 81 (formerly No. 80) is a narrow, one-bay house,
four storeys high, with a recent shop entrance on the
ground floor below a roughly rendered façade which has
iron tie-rods arranged to form a pattern and odd decorative
ironwork around the windows. Its history is as obscure as
its appearance is undistinguished. Originally it probably
formed part of the curtilage of the Mount Coffee House at
No. 80 but a separate occupant appears in the ratebooks
from 1736 onwards. (ref. 269) In 1880 it was described by the
estate surveyor as very old, and he recommended its
demolition, but it has survived to the present day. (ref. 270)