Charles William Stephens (c.1845 – 4 August 1917) was a British architect. As architect to the

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

department store in London from 1892 until his death, he was responsible for the store's famous Baroque-style façade on Brompton Road. His other designs include

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury f ...

department store, the new

Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. It has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an "annexe to Buckingham Palace". Claridge's Hote ...

hotel, 54 Parkside, and the

Park Lane Hotel The Sheraton Grand London Park Lane is a 5 Star hotel on Piccadilly, London. The hotel opened in 1927 as The Park Lane Hotel to designs by architects Adie, Button and Partners, in a grand Art Deco style, and was constructed by the developer ...

, all in London.

Early life and family

Charles Stephens was born around 1845 in Clapton, Middlesex. He married Helen, who was born in Malvern Wells, Worcestershire.Charles W Stephens England and Wales Census, 1881.
Family Search. Retrieved 9 March 2019.

Career

In 1871, Stephens was working as a clerk. In 1881, he was recorded on the census as a non-practicing architect with the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

. In 1885, Stephens designed a National School in

Malvern Wells Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish south of Great Malvern in the Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England. The parish, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland, ...

, now known as the Malvern Wells Church of England Primary School. By the mid 1880s he had an office in Hans Road, Knightsbridge, and was active in redeveloping

Hans Place Hans Place (usually pronounced ) is a garden square in the Knightsbridge district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, immediately south of Harrods in SW1. It is named after Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS (16 April 1660 � ...

. He designed 67 Pont Street, now grade II listed, in 1887 and other houses in Hans Place. In 1889 he designed Culgruff House near

Crossmichael Crossmichael ( gd, Crois Mhìcheil) is a small village on the east side of Loch Ken in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, about north of Castle Douglas in Scotland. Crossmichael is also the name of the civil parish in Kirkcudbright ...

in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, for Robert Stewart of Southwick. A baronial style mansion in red sandstone of two storeys with attics and tall square tower, it is listed as Category B. He designed part of

Walsingham House The Walsingham House or Walsingham House Hotel was located at 150-4 Piccadilly on the site of what is now The Ritz Hotel, London and was adjacent to the Bath Hotel. The Ritz's financial backers began negotiations in 1901 and purchased the Walsin ...

. It was demolished in 1904 and replaced by The Ritz Hotel.Walsingham House seen from Piccadilly.
Historic England. Retrieved 9 March 2019. By 1894, he was architect to the Belgrave Estate Limited, which had been formed to redevelop the area north of Hans Place. One of the members of that syndicate, Herbert Bennett, was also a director of the Harrods department store, and "no doubt through this connection" Stephens became architect of Harrods from 1892 until his death. He has been described as designing "virtually all of the buildings facing or in the immediate vicinity of Harrods" and was also responsible for the whole of the Baroque-style façade on Brompton Road that was completed in 1905 and which, apart from some changes by Louis D. Blanc and repairs of war damage, survives substantially intact. In 1894, he designed the

department store, also in Knightsbridge. Stephens was responsible for designing the new

hotel on the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street, between 1894 and 1898. In 1897, he designed 54 Parkside (now the Apostolic Nunciature and formally known as Winkfield Lodge), a large detached house in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, London, overlooking

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

. It has been listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

since 1988. Stephens designed the Park Lane Hotel, but work stopped at the outbreak of the First World War, and was completed by

Adie, Button and Partners Adie, Button and Partners was a British firm of architects, best known for designing the Grade II* listed Stockwell Garage, a large bus depot in Stockwell, London, which opened in 1952 and is still in use. It was founded by George Adie and Fre ...

Later life

Stephens died at 49 Hans Road, Kensington, on 4 August 1917, aged 74, and was buried at

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938. ...

on 8 August. He left an estate of £65,348 and probate was granted to Mary Broughton, spinster, and William Edward Ligonier Balfour, colonel H.M. Army.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, C. W. 1840s births 1917 deaths Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Architects from London Year of birth uncertain People from Upper Clapton