Macdonald House was a seven-storey Neo-Georgian style building on

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...

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. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It was part of the High Commission of Canada from 1961 to 2014. Macdonald House was used for the High Commission's cultural and consular functions, trade and administrative sections, immigration section, and as the High Commissioner's official residence. From 1938 to 1960, the building was the Embassy of the United States. The

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

sold Macdonald House to a property developer in 2013 and vacated the building in 2014. Subsequently, Macdonald House was converted into high-end residential building named №1 Grosvenor Square.

History

In 1936, the former (residential) buildings on the site were demolished as part of a

redevelopment Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses. It represents a process of land development uses to revitalize the physical, economic and social fabric of urban space. Description Variations on redevelopment include: ...

scheme led by the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

. A new building was built and occupied numbers 1 to 3 on the eastern side of the square. The American embassy moved into the building in 1938. During the Second World War, when the U.S. embassy was on one side and U.S. General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

's headquarters on another, Grosvenor Square became popularly known as "Little America", or "Eisenhowerplatz" (this last, Germanic, form was a joke about Eisenhower's German-origin name). After a new Modernist style building at 24 Grosvenor Square (designed by

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

) was completed in 1960, the American embassy moved to that site. The building was then acquired by the Canadian government and renamed Macdonald House in honour of Canada's first prime minister, Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

. It was re-opened by the Canadian High Commission on Dominion Day (July 1), 1961. In December 2008, the Government of Canada revived previous plans to sell Macdonald House and purchase a building closer to

Canada House Canada House (french: Maison du Canada) is a Greek Revival building on Trafalgar Square in London. It has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1970. It has served as the offices of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom since 192 ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

. In February 2010, the government of Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

cancelled the sale for the third time. On December 20, 2010, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade announced that Canada House, the High Commission's diplomatic, public and educational space in London, would close to undergo necessary renovations. It re-opened in 2012.

Sale and redevelopment

On November 28, 2013, the Canadian government announced that Macdonald House had been sold to an India-based developer ( Lodha Group) for $530 million. The building was vacated in mid-December 2014, when all the services of the High Commission were regrouped in the expanded and refurbished Canada House on Trafalgar Square. Indian property developer Lodha Group then began redeveloping the property. The project involved the demolition of Macdonald House and disassembly of its facade, which will be rebuilt to become the facade of the new building. The developer is recreating the

Neo-Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...

of Macdonald House in a new, high-end residential building called No.1 Grosvenor Square.

Gallery

File:Macdonald House 2009.jpg, Macdonald House in 2009 File:The border between Italy and Canada - geograph.org.uk - 707550.jpg, View of the building and the back entrance of the Embassy of Italy File:HC_of_Canada,_London_1.jpg, A side entrance to Macdonald House on Grosvenor Street File:HC_of_Canada,_London_2.jpg, Plaque outside in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French

References

External links

No.1 Grosvenor Square website

Lodha Luxury Collection – No.1 Grosvenor Square

U.S. Embassy page about Grosvenor Square
–

{{Diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1938 Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Canada–United Kingdom relations Diplomatic missions in London

United Kingdom–United States relations