Brook House was a mansion and is now a block of flats in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, a prestigious and expensive district of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. The building is located at 113

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

and was constructed by

Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

from 1867 to 1869. It was the home of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

's private banker Sir Ernest Cassel and his granddaughter, who became

Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, (''née'' Ashley; 28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960), was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India as the wife of (the then) Rear Admira ...

. Upon his death in 1921, she inherited it, and a decade later had it remodelled into flats. At the end of the 20th century the property was rebuilt once more.

1860s building

In 1854, Dudley Marjoribanks, MP (later created, in 1880, The 1st

Baron Tweedmouth Baron Tweedmouth, of Edington in the County of Berwick, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1881 for the businessman and Liberal politician Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a baro ...

), purchased the lot on the corner, which was numbered 29. A decade later, he acquired the adjacent lot numbered 28 and sought permission to build a mansion overlooking

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

, based upon designs from

. Construction began in 1867 and completed in 1869 on the large red brick structure with

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

dressings. The house had French façades, and a number of bays and balconies. The interior from the entrance on

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

opened to a mahogany staircase that rose two stories, lined in variegated marble. The library was furnished in cherry paneling and the dining room was decorated with carving from the recently demolished Draper's Hall. After the death of The 1st Baron Tweedmouth, the 2nd Baron added a porch to the house where lot 27 had been. A reversal in his financial situation caused him to sell the house in 1904.

1900s renovations

Ernest Cassel Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel, (3 March 1852 – 21 September 1921) was a British merchant banker and capitalist. Born and raised in Prussia, he moved to England at the age of 17. Life and career Cassel was born in Cologne, in the Rhine Province ...

not only bought Brook House, but he also bought the Baron's Scottish estate at Guisachan, near

Glen Affric Glen Affric ( gd, Gleann Afraig) is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin. A mi ...

. Between 1905 and 1907, Cassel carried out renovations to the property designed by architect Arnold Mitchell and built by the firm of Holland and Hannen. The interiors were done by

Charles Allom Sir Charles Carrick Allom (1865–1947) was an eminent English decorator, trained as an architect and knighted for his work on Buckingham Palace. He was the grandson of architect Thomas Allom and painter Thomas Carrick. Among his American clie ...

, decorator for the Royal Family. The house had 24 bedrooms, 11 reception rooms, a sixty-foot-long ballroom, a grand dining room which had seating for 100 guests, and 800 tons of Tuscan marble in the main hall and staircase alone. Cassel's granddaughter, who would later become Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, from the time she was a child and her mother died, had a room in his home. Upon Cassel's death, the house passed to his sister, Wilhelmina Cassel, but Edwina continued to live there. She and

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

married in a lavish ceremony in 1922 with the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

serving as best man and his parents,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

and

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

, in attendance. After the ceremony, the reception was held in Brook House and the couple moved into a suite on the third floor. When Wilhelmina Cassel died in 1925, the house became Edwina's outright and the newlyweds remodeled Brook House with a naval motif. The master bedroom was designed like the cabin of a battleship, complete with portholes, cork-lined ceiling and brass handrails.

1930s remodelling

In 1931, Edwina put the house up for sale, citing high taxes and the cost to maintain the property, but there were some problems with the will, forcing delays. George Gee of the building firm Gee, Walker and Slater, bought the major interest and the house was mostly demolished and rebuilt in 1933–35 with neo-Georgian designs similar to the neighboring houses. Each floor had a single flat. The Mountbattens' double-story penthouse was not completed until 1937 and could only be reached by a private, express elevator. The lower flats began being rented out and one of the early occupants was

Harry Selfridge Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. (11 January 1858 – 8 May 1947) was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. His 20-year leadership of Selfridges led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy ...

, who had a flat there in 1936.

1998 building

In 1998, a demolition and renovation was completed on the property by contractors

Higgs and Hill Higgs and Hill was a major British construction company responsible for construction of many well-known buildings in London. History The company was established in 1874 by the merger of the firm of Thomas Hill (managed by Rowland and Joseph Hill ...

for Brook House Developments Ltd. Upon completion, the property contained basement parking, commercial space on the ground and first floors, 16 luxury apartments and a single penthouse occupying the seventh and eighth floors.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Mayfair Buildings and structures completed in 1869 Former houses in the City of Westminster 1869 establishments in England