![Devonshire House from The Queen's London (1896)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Devonshire_House_from_The_Queen%27s_London_%281896%29.JPG)
Devonshire House in
Piccadilly, was the London
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
of the
Dukes of Devonshire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Following a fire in 1733 it was rebuilt by
William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, (26 September 1698 – 5 December 1755) was a British nobleman and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1729 when he inherited the Dukedom.
Life
Cavendish was the son of Will ...
, in the
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style, to designs by
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...
. Completed circa 1740, it stood empty after the First World War and was demolished in 1924.
Many of Britain's great noblemen maintained large London houses that bore their names. As a ducal house (only in mainland Europe were such houses referred to as palaces), Devonshire House was one of the largest and grandest, ranking alongside
Burlington House,
Montague House,
Lansdowne House
Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of a building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England, not to be confused with 57 Berkeley Square – opposite – a much later quadrilateral building which take ...
,
Londonderry House,
Northumberland House
Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London residence of the Percy family, who were the Ear ...
, and
Norfolk House
Norfolk House, 31 St James's Square, Westminster, was built between 1748 and 1752 as his London townhouse by Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686–1777) to the design of Matthew Brettingham (1699–1769), "the Elder", and was demolishe ...
. All of these have long been demolished, except Burlington and Lansdowne, both of which have been substantially altered.
Today the site is occupied by a namesake modern office building.
The site
![Devonshire House on John Rocque's 1746 map of London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Devonshire_House_on_John_Rocque%27s_1746_map_of_London.jpg)
Devonshire House occupied the site of Berkeley House, which was built between 1665 and 1673 and at a cost of over £30,000, by
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, of
Bruton Priory in Somerset, following his return from service as
Viceroy of Ireland. The site is memorialised today by
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...
, Berkeley Street,
Stratton Street and
Bruton Street
Bruton Street is a street in London's Mayfair district.
It runs from Berkeley Square in the south-west to New Bond Street in the north-east, where it continues as Conduit Street.
Notable residents have included Field Marshal John Campbell, 2n ...
. The house was later occupied by
Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, one of the celebrated
mistresses of King Charles II.
Berkeley House, a classical mansion built by
Hugh May, having been purchased in 1696 by
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, was renamed "Devonshire House". As part of the agreement,
John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton (c. 1663–1697) undertook not to build on that part of the land he retained which lay directly behind the house to the north, so preserving the Duke's view. This covenant was still in force when the Berkeley land was developed after 1730, and the
gardens
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
of
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...
represent the northern termination of that undeveloped strip, combined in the south with the gardens of
Lansdowne House
Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of a building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England, not to be confused with 57 Berkeley Square – opposite – a much later quadrilateral building which take ...
.
On 16 October 1733, whilst undergoing refurbishment, the former Berkeley House was completely destroyed by fire, despite firefighting efforts by the
Regiment of Guards, whose barracks were nearby, led by
Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle
Lieutenant-General Willem (or William) Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle (5 June 1702 – 22 December 1754) was a British soldier, diplomat and courtier.
He held various roles in the household of George II (1683-1760), who was a personal fr ...
, and by other local troops led by
Frederick, Prince of Wales. The cause was attributed to careless labourers. Ironically, the Duke's former London residence,
Old Devonshire House, at 48 Boswell Street,
Bloomsbury, survived both its successors until
The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Ethos
During the 18th century forms of entertainment began to change and large
receptions came into fashion, often taking the form of concerts and balls. Initially, hosts hired one of the many new
assembly rooms built to indulge the fashion. It was not long before the more dedicated and wealthy hosts began to add a
ballroom to their
town houses
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
; the more wealthy still forsook their old-fashionedly proportioned town houses in favour of new and vast palaces designed purely for entertaining. The Duke of Devonshire, an owner of vast estates in Derbyshire and elsewhere, belonged to the latter category. Thus the fire at Devonshire House in 1733 provided the unforeseen opportunity to build one such palace during the height of the fashion.
The 3rd Duke chose the fashionable architect
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...
, for whom this was a first commission for a London house. It was built between 1734 and about 1740. Kent was the protégé of the immensely cultivated
3rd Earl of Burlington and had worked on his
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694– ...
, built in 1729, and also at
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the 1st Earl of Leicester,The Earldom of Leicester has been, to date, created seven times. Thomas C ...
, completed circa 1741, both in the Palladian style and considered the epitome of fashion and sophistication. Chiswick House later came, with other estates, into the possession of the Dukes of Devonshire through the marriage of the 4th Duke to
Lady Charlotte Boyle, daughter and heiress of Lord Burlington.
Architecture
![Devonshire House from Vitruvius Britannicus edited](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Devonshire_House_from_Vitruvius_Britannicus_edited.JPG)
In typical
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style, Devonshire House consisted of a ''
corps de logis
In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture ...
'' flanked by
service wing
Servants' quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century, they were a common feature in many large ...
s. The severity of the design - three storeys in eleven bays - caused one contemporary critic to liken the mansion to a
warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
, and a modern biographer of Kent to remark on its "plain severity". However, the curiously flat exterior concealed Kent's sumptuous interiors which housed a large part of the Devonshire art collection, considered one of the finest in the United Kingdom, and a renowned library, housed in a room 40 ft long and including amongst its treasures
Claude Lorraine
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
's ''
Liber Veritatis'', his record in sketches of a lifetime of painting. In the Duke's sitting room a glass case over the chimneypiece contained the best of his collection of
engraved gem
An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...
s and Renaissance and Baroque medallions. Such a prominent commission could hardly fail to be included in ''
Vitruvius Britannicus
Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectura ...
''.
The plan of Devonshire House defines it as one of the earliest of the great 18th-century
town houses
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
, then designed identically to grand
country houses. Its purpose, too, was identical, to display wealth and consequently power. Thus a great town house, by its large size and design, accentuated its owner's power by its contrast with the monotony of the smaller
terraced houses surrounding it.
At Devonshire House, Kent's exterior stairs led up to a ''
piano nobile'', where the entrance hall was the only room that rose through two storeys. Inconspicuous pairs of staircases are tucked into modest sites at either side, for the upstairs was strictly private.
Enfilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in de ...
s of interconnecting rooms, of which the largest space is devoted to the library, flank central halls, adjusting the traditions of the symmetrical Baroque
state apartments, a design which did not lend itself to large gatherings. A few years later architects such as
Matthew Brettingham pioneered a more compact design, with a suite of connecting
reception rooms circling a central top-lit stair hall, which allowed guests to "circulate". Greeted at the head of the stairs, they then flowed in a convenient circuit, rather than retracing their steps. This design was first exemplified by the now-demolished
Norfolk House
Norfolk House, 31 St James's Square, Westminster, was built between 1748 and 1752 as his London townhouse by Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686–1777) to the design of Matthew Brettingham (1699–1769), "the Elder", and was demolishe ...
completed in 1756. Therefore, it seems that Devonshire House was old-fashioned and unsuited to its intended use almost from the moment of its completion. Thus from the late 18th century its interiors were vastly altered.
Usage
![Devonshire House from the Illustrated London News, 1850](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Devonshire_House_from_the_Illustrated_London_News%2C_1850.jpg)
Alterations were made to Devonshire House by the architect
James Wyatt
James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806.
Early life
W ...
, over the long period 1776–90, and later by
Decimus Burton, who in 1843 constructed a new portico, entrance hall and grand staircase for the 6th Duke. At that time the external double staircase was swept away, allowing for formal entrance to be made into the ground floor through the new portico. Hitherto the ground floor had contained only secondary rooms and in 18th century fashion had been the domain of servants. The new staircase conveyed guests directly to the ''piano nobile'', from a low entrance hall, in a newly created recess formed by creating a convex bow at the centre of the rear garden facade. Known as the "Crystal Staircase", it had a glass handrail and newel posts. Burton amalgamated several of the principal rooms; he created a vast heavily gilded ballroom from two former drawing rooms and often created double height rooms at the expense of the bedrooms above, causing the house to become even more of a place for display and entertaining rather than for living.
Devonshire House was the setting for the brilliant social and political life of the circle around
William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, (14 December 1748 – 29 July 1811), was a British nobleman, aristocrat, and politician. He was the eldest son of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, by his wife, the heiress Lady Charlotte B ...
and his duchess,
Lady Georgiana Spencer, Whig supporters of
Charles James Fox. The grand house was also the site for the much celebrated
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee with a lavish
fancy dress ball, known as the
Devonshire House Ball of 1897. The guests, including
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and the
Princess of Wales, were dressed as historical portraits come to life. The many portrait photographs taken at the ball have illustrated countless books on the social history of the late Victorian era.
Demolition
![DevonshireHouse1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/DevonshireHouse1907.jpg)
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Devonshire House was used by the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
, including for dealing with post.
Gertrude Bacon was later in charge of this operation.
After the war, many aristocratic families gave up their London houses and Devonshire House was deserted in 1919. The demolition was mentioned nostalgically several times in literature and caused
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
's Clarissa Dalloway to think, as she passed down Piccadilly, of "Devonshire House without its gilt leopards", a reference to the house's gilded gates. It also inspired
Siegfried Sassoon's "Monody on the Demolition of Devonshire House".
[Richard Davenport-Hines, "Cavendish, Victor Christian William, ninth Duke of Devonshire (1868–1938)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200]
accessed 4 Oct 2010
The reason for the abandonment was that the
9th Duke was the first of his family to suffer
death duties, which amounted to over £500,000. Additionally, he inherited the debts of the
7th Duke. This double burden prompted the sale of many of the family's valuables, including books printed by
William Caxton, many 1st editions of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, and Devonshire House itself with its even more valuable three acres of gardens. The sale was finalised in 1920 at a price of £750,000
and the house was demolished. The two purchasers were Shurmer Sibthorpe and Lawrence Harrison, wealthy industrialists, who built on the site a hotel and block of flats. When told that the proposed demolition was an act of vandalism, Sibthorpe, echoing the building's 18th-century critics, replied: "Archaeologists have gathered round me and say I am a vandal, but personally I think the place is an eyesore."
Legacy
![Green park gates on Piccadilly (February 2010) 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Green_park_gates_on_Piccadilly_%28February_2010%29_1.jpg)
In 1924-1926
Holland, Hannen & Cubitts built a new office building on the site, fronting directly onto Piccadilly, also known as "Devonshire House". The building became the UK headquarters of the automobile manufacturer
Citroën, with showrooms occupying the lower three floors. Citroën remained the chief occupant of the building until 1936. It was also the headquarters of The Rootes Group until the 1960s. During World War II it was occupied by the headquarters of the
War Damage Commission.
Some of the paintings and furniture from Devonshire House survive at the Duke's principal seat,
Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. The wrought-iron entrance gates, between piers with
rusticated quoins and topped with seated
sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
es, have been re-erected on the south side of Piccadilly, to form an entrance to Green Park. The wine cellar is now the ticket office of
Green Park Underground station. Other architectural salvage included furniture, doorways and mantelpieces which were relocated to Chatsworth. Some of these stored items were auctioned by Sotheby's on 5–7 October 2010, including five William Kent chimneypieces from Devonshire House described by the auctioneer
Lord Dalmeny as being of special interest and value: "You can't buy them because they are all in listed buildings now. It's like being able to commission Rubens to paint your ceiling."
Most of the great detached houses of noblemen which existed in the West End of London, where even the grandest persons often lived in
terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...
s, including Devonshire House,
Norfolk House
Norfolk House, 31 St James's Square, Westminster, was built between 1748 and 1752 as his London townhouse by Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686–1777) to the design of Matthew Brettingham (1699–1769), "the Elder", and was demolishe ...
and
Chesterfield House
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
*Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituenc ...
, are today numbered amongst England's thousands of lost houses; Lansdowne House lost its front to a street-widening scheme. Just a few survive, but in corporate or state ownership.
Marlborough House
Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was built in 1711 for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marl ...
passed to the crown in the 19th century.
Apsley House
Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. I ...
remains a functioning possession of the Dukes of Wellington, but is mostly now a public museum on the edge of a busy roundabout, its gardens long gone (but not built over), with the family occupying the uppermost floor only.
Spencer House Spencer House may refer to:
* Spencer House, Westminster, Greater London, England
United States
* Spencer House (Hartford, Connecticut), listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in Hartford County
* Spencer House in Columbus, Ge ...
is an event venue. Manchester House houses the
Wallace Collection, a museum open to the public.
Bridgewater House, Westminster
Bridgewater House is a townhouse located at 14 Cleveland Row in the St James's area of London, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
The earliest known house on the site was Berkshire House, built in about 1626–27 for Thomas Howa ...
by
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respons ...
is now used as offices. Currently,
Dudley House is the only one of London's surviving private palaces to be occupied and used as its design intended.
[A complete list (see ]Townhouse (Great Britain)
In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the town or city residence, in practice normally in London, of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially ...
) would also include Melbourne House, remodelled as The Albany; Dover House in Whitehall, now government offices; Derby House in Stratford Place off Oxford Street; Crewe House,in Curzon Street; Bourdon House at the northeast end of Berkeley Square; Egremont House, Piccadilly, housing the Naval and Military Club; and Bath House. These are mentioned by Nikolaus Pevsner, ''London I: The Cities of London and Westminster'' (Buildings of England series) 1962. 78f.
See also
*
List of demolished buildings and structures in London
This list of demolished buildings and structures in London includes buildings, structures and urban scenes of particular architectural and historical interest, scenic buildings which are preserved in old photographs, prints and paintings, but whic ...
*
Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain
The destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain was the result of a change in social conditions: many country houses of varying architectural merit were demolished by their owners. Collectively termed by several authors "the lost hous ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website for office building
{{Coord, 51.507270, -0.142756, type:landmark, display=title
Buildings and structures in Mayfair
Former houses in the City of Westminster
Buildings and structures on Piccadilly
Decimus Burton buildings
William Kent buildings
Georgian architecture in London