Cambridge House, Piccadilly (geograph 5299411)

Cambridge House is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

former

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 ...

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 ...

, England. It sits on the northern side of

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cour ...

at number 94, in the fashionable district of

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 ...

. , the property is being converted into a luxury hotel and seven residences. The current name of the house comes from one of its former owners,

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of the British king George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 18 ...

(1774–1850), the seventh son of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, but it was originally known as Egremont House and then Cholmondeley House. From about 1865 to 1999, it was the home of the

Naval and Military Club The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members' club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for gentlemen of the British Armed Forces. It now also accepts female members, and members ...

and was known colloquially as the In and Out Club, due to its prominently signposted one-way carriage drive.

Early history

The house, situated in the fashionable parish of St George's, Hanover Square,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, was built in 1756–1761 by

Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, PC (19 August 171021 August 1763), of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, Petworth House in Sussex, and of Egremont House in Mayfair, London, was a British statesman who served as Secretary of State for the Sout ...

(1710–1763), of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset and of

Petworth House Petworth House in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century Grade I listed country house, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect Anthony Sa ...

in Sussex,

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office. History Before 1782, the responsibilities of ...

from 1761 to 1763, and was thus first known as Egremont House. The building is in the late

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 the design of the architect

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 ...

. It has three main storeys plus basement and attics, and is seven bays wide. As is usual in a London mansion of the period, the first floor (''

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the ho ...

'', "second floor" in American English) is the principal floor, containing a circuit of reception rooms. This floor has the highest ceilings and its status is emphasised externally by a

Venetian window A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...

in the centre. The house changed hands several times. For several years in the 1820s, it was occupied by

George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley George James Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley, (; 11 May 1749 – 10 April 1827), styled Viscount Malpas between 1764 and 1770 and known as The Earl of Cholmondeley between 1770 and 1815, was a British peer and politician. Background ...

, and was known as Cholmondeley House. From 1829 to 1850, it was the London residence of

(1774–1850), and became known as Cambridge House. Due to his royal status, that name has persisted. As

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

left the house after visiting her dying uncle Adolphus, Robert Pate hit her on the head with his cane. After the duke's death in 1850, the house was purchased by

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the perio ...

, who was

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...

for most of the decade between 1855 and 1865. It was his London townhouse and the site of many splendid social and political gatherings. After Palmerston's death in 1865 at

Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a neo-classical country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart fro ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, his body was taken to Cambridge House, whence his funeral procession departed to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Later that year, Cambridge House was sold to the

, which had outgrown its previous headquarters. The club came to be known as the "In and Out", from the prominent traffic-directing signs on its entrance and exit gates. Members included T. E. Lawrence and

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

Recent history

In 1999, the Naval and Military Club moved to new premises, having sold Cambridge House in 1996 to entrepreneur

Simon Halabi Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

for £50 million. Halabi planned to convert the property into a private members' club and hotel, part of his

Mentmore Towers Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...

project, and to build a swimming pool and squash courts underneath the forecourt of the house. However, the building remained vacant after 1999, and it fell into a state of disrepair. Plaster was falling off the ceiling in the first floor rooms, and many floorboards had been pulled up. In 2009, Halabi's companies went into bankruptcy. In June 2010, Cambridge House and its adjoining buildings, 90–93 Piccadilly (and 42 Half Moon Street), 95 Piccadilly (the former American Club) and 12 White Horse Street (the rear section being vacant land), as well as 96–100 Piccadilly (on the other side of White Horse Street), were all offered for sale through property brokers Jones Lang Lasalle, collectively referred to as the Piccadilly Estate, for in excess of £150m. In June 2011, the site was acquired by

David and Simon Reuben David Reuben (born 1941) and Simon Reuben (born 1944) are Indian-born British businessmen. In May 2020, they were named as the second richest family in the UK by the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' with a net worth of £16 billion. Early life and ba ...

for a reported £130m through their investment company, Aldersgate. In October 2012, applications were submitted for a full refurbishment into private homes (Numbers 94 and 95) and residential apartments (Numbers 90–93 and 42). In April 2013, David and Simon Reuben received approval to develop the property into a 60,600 square foot single home. It would likely have become the UK's most expensive home, estimated to be worth about £250 million after renovation. According to Bloomberg News, "the planning application for Number 94 was approved after the two investors offered to contribute £3.85 million to the construction of

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

in the borough." However, that development plan subsequently changed, and a new plan was conceived to convert the property into the "Cambridge House Hotel and Residences", with a five-star hotel and seven serviced residences. Work on the project is being carried out by PDP London.Cambridge House Hotel and Residences
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References

*Pearce, David (1986). ''London's Mansions''.

External links

Reuben Brothers – real estate holdingsReuben Brothers – timeline of purchases and developmentsCountry Life Picture Library – interior photos
{{Authority control Houses in the City of Westminster Grade I listed houses in London Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom Reuben Brothers