RichmondHouse Whitehall 1730Design ByLordBurlington

Richmond House is a government building in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, London. Its name comes from an historic

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

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

that once stood on the site.

History

Stewart Dukes of Richmond

Richmond House was first built as his London

by Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox (1639-1672) of Cobham Hall in Kent, an English nobleman of Franco-Scottish ancestry and a 4th cousin of King Charles II of England. It was built shortly after the

Restoration of the Monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

of 1660 when King Charles II returned to Great Britain from his exile in France during the Civil War and Commonwealth. It was built on the former bowling green of the royal

Palace of Whitehall The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. ...

, at the southern end of the Privy Gardens. Its west side looked onto Whitehall, but the main front looked northward towards the Banqueting House and

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

. The 3rd Duke of Richmond died without issue in 1672 but his widow remained in occupation until her death in 1702.

Reversion to crown

After 1702 the house reverted to the crown and was occupied firstly by the Secretary of State and then by the Comptrollers of Army Accounts.

Lennox Dukes of Richmond

In 1710, during the reign of Queen Anne, the house was granted to Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (1672-1723), of

Goodwood House Goodwood House is a country house and estate covering in Westhampnett, Chichester, West Sussex, England and is the seat of the Duke of Richmond. The house was built in about 1600 and is a Grade I listed building. Description The house and it ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, the youngest of the seven

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

sons of King Charles II (by his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (5 September 1649 – 14 November 1734) was a mistress of Charles II of England. Early life Louise was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kéroualle (d. 1690) ...

). Charles Lennox had in many ways been placed by the king into the persona of the deceased 3rd Duke of Richmond, whose family was much beloved by the Stuart monarchs. In 1733-4 His son Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox (1701-1750) built a new house adjacent to the first house, to the design of Lord Burlington (1694-1753), the pioneer of

Palladian architecture 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 ...

in England. After 1738 he demolished the first house to improve his view. In 1747 he commissioned

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

to paint a pair of views from Richmond House, today in the collection of his descendant the 11th Duke of Richmond at

. The 2nd Duke also enlarged his country seat at Goodwood House, to the designs of

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an 18th-century Englishman who rose from humble origins to supervise the construction of Holkham Hall, and become one of the country's best-know ...

. In 1758 his son Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 3rd Duke of Lennox (1735-1806) converted part of the house to a school for the study of painting and sculpture and in 1782 remodelled a part of it, to the designs of

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 ...

"House of the Earls of Loudoun and Mar"

To the immediate west of Richmond House and adjoining Whitehall stood the "House of the Earls of Loudoun and Mar" (joint Secretaries of State of the Kingdom of Scotland 1705-1708/9), built 1687-93 by

John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort, styled Duke of Melfort in the Jacobite peerage (8 August 1650 - 25 January 1715), was a Scottish politician and close advisor to James II. A Catholic convert, Melfort and his brother the Earl of Perth consist ...

(1650-1715), Secretary of State of the Kingdom of Scotland 1684–9, for use by holders of that office (abolished 1707) and demolished after 1820 to make way for Richmond Terrace built in 1822 and surviving today. It was divided into two separate dwellings, the leases of which were held personally after 1707 by the descendants of Loudon and Mar. Richmond House built by the 2nd Duke and burned down in 1791, stood to its east, closer to the river. The Loudoun and Mar house was acquired between 1766 and 1790 by the 3rd Duke of Richmond, after which it also appears to have become known as "Richmond House".

Destroyed by fire

Richmond House was destroyed by a fire on 21 December 1791, and was not rebuilt by the 3rd Duke or his descendants. The library and art collection were rescued from the fire and were removed to Goodwood House, where the surviving two wings were built (to the designs of

) to re-house them. The fire started in the bedroom of Henrietta Anne le Clerc, called "a protégée of the Duchess" and "a long acknowledged daughter of His Grace", believed to have been the Duke's illegitimate daughter, to whom he referred in his will as ''"Miss Henrietta Anne le Clerc, who resides with me and though Christened by the name of Anne only is called Henrietta and whom I have ducated?from her childhood"'' and to whom he bequeathed an annual income of £2,000 (also leaving £10,000 to each of his three illegitimate daughters by his housekeeper Mrs Bennet). The events are recorded as follows in '' The Annual Register'' of 1791:

Replaced by Richmond Terrace

Richmond Terrace, Whitehall (geograph 5590883)

The lease of the site passed to other ownership and in 1822 was built the surviving structure of eight large terraced houses known as "Richmond Terrace", occupying approximately the same footprint and orientation. These became fashionable private residences, until the 1920s when the leases expired and they returned to use as government offices until the redevelopment of 1982.

1980s redevelopment

In 1987 Richmond Terrace Mews, behind the building, was built over and joined to the rear of Richmond Terrace to form a modern government office block to house the headquarters of the Department for Health and Social Security, the main entrance to which was number 79 Whitehall (formerly the entrance to the mews). The ministerial team and key

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

officials were based there until November 2017. The new building was designed by Sir William Whitfield, and was completed in 1987.

Site for temporary Parliament

In January 2018, the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

voted to move to Richmond House in 2025, for an estimated six years, to allow a full renovation of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

, which accommodates the Houses of Commons and

Lords Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina *Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 19 ...

. Plans revealed in October 2018 indicated that most of the 1980s structure would be demolished in preparation for this move, with only the facade retained in front of a new building designed by

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Allford Hall Monaghan Morris is an architecture practice based in Clerkenwell, London, with offices in Bristol and Oklahoma. History Set up in 1989 by Simon Allford, Jonathan Hall, Paul Monaghan and Peter Morris, the practice employs over 500 pe ...

, containing a permanent chamber and offices.