Victoria's Regencies
  • Welcome
  • About Me
  • News and Events
  • Victoria's Vibes -- a blog
  • My Books
    • An Ideal Match
    • Ask Jane
    • Cordelia's Corinthian
    • Miss Milford's Mistake
    • Miss Parker's Ponies
    • The Eligible Miss Elliott
    • The Fontainebleau Fan
    • The Tables Turned
    • BirthRights: a Dangerous Brew, Chapter One

Another London Mansion...Part Thirteen

10/19/2019

0 Comments

 
Cambridge House is also known as #94 Piccadilly. We hope this fine mansion, even though it occupies the 13th position in this series of posts taken from my 'London Mansions' talk at the Beau Monde's 2019 conference in New York on July 23, will soon again be among the leading venues in its new role --probably as a hotel. 
Picture
This rather sad photo was taken before the current changes began. Cambridge House is a fine Palladian house built in the 1760’s, designed by Matthew Brettingham. It is Grade I-listed and had been abandoned for  20 years while various schemes were planned and discarded for its revival. Below, current renovations underway, as of September, 2019.
Picture
Was it last year or the year before that we found food trucks in the courtyard?
Picture
Though many problems exist, some of the rooms remain in excellent condition. The original owner was the 2nd Earl of Egremont who also lived at Petworth in Sussex. His son, George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, lived here for many years. In the 1820’s it was the residence of Lord Cholmondeley, and from 1829 the London residence of  Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, when it became known as Cambridge House.
Please click on the above images for larger versions.
        After the Duke of Cambridge died in 1850, the house was purchased by Lord Palmerston — who served twice as prime minister — and on his death it was bought by the Naval and Military Club. In the late 1860s, the club became known as the “In and Out” from the signs on the entrance and exit gates. 
Picture
   The Naval and Military Club was there until 1996 when the club moved to 4 St James’s Square. The house was sold to a businessman for £50 million. He had plans to make it into a hotel but went bankrupt a few years later. In 2010, it was sold again for £150 million, supposedly for a private residence. The latest scheme seems to be a hotel utilizing the surrounding buildings which are not listed and can be adapted to contemporary standards. The reception rooms will be in the mansion itself.  Below, the Ballroom, before renovations began. 
Picture
To provide historical perspective, we have rounded up the usual suspects below  --- Lord Egremont, top left,  is believed to have been the father of Lady Melbourne’s son William Lamb, the prime minister…and perhaps daughter Emily, center, also, though other candidates have been considered other than her mother’s husband.  Emily later lived and entertained lavishly here with her 2nd husband Lord Palmerston, right – and while she was married to Lord Cowper, Palmerston was probably the father of young Lady Emily Cowper, bottom left, – who later married the 7th Earl Shaftesbury, bottom right, the great reformer of the Victorian era, an evangelical crusader for ending child labor and so forth – perhaps making up for the indiscretions in his wife’s family history???
Below, the dining room while the In and Out Club.
Picture
Below, drawing of Cambridge House, or Palmerston House as it was known then, in 1864.
Picture
Picture
Let's hope the current renovations are superb and Cambridge House regains its former glory.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Victoria Hinshaw, Author


    Here I will share some of my articles on favorite topics, such as English Country Houses, the Regency Royals, Jane Austen, and the like. Some of these articles have been published elsewhere, probably on the blog I share with Kristine Hughes and Louisa
    ​Cornell:  numberonelondon.net

    Archives

    March 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    June 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Photo from amandabhslater