Seaford House

Seaford House, originally called Sefton House, is a former aristocratic mansion and the largest of the detached houses sited on each corner of

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces fo ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is a magnolia stucco building with four main storeys most famed for its interiors (the first floor, or piano nobile, being decorated in the French style). Dating from 1842, Sefton House was designed by

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

to meet the requirements of 3rd Earl of Sefton. The house, with its railings and gate piers, have been listed

Grade II* 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 Irel ...

for their architectural merit. The 3rd and 4th Earls used it as their

town house 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 ...

; the 5th Earl, being an invalid, could not do so and after he died childless in 1901, the lease was sold to

William Tebb William Tebb (22 October 1830 – 23 January 1917) was a British businessman and wide-ranging Reform movement, social reformer. He was an anti-vaccinationist and author of anti-vaccination books.''Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in E ...

Lord Howard de Walden Baron Howard de Walden is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Hereditary peer#Writs of summons, writ of summons in 1597 by Queen Elizabeth I for Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of ...

, who was also Baron Seaford, acquired the lease for Sefton House in 1902 and renamed it Seaford House. He installed friezes, panelling, and a staircase of green

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

specially imported from South America. The house was requisitioned by the wartime Government in 1940, and for a while was used as offices by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. It was badly damaged by aerial bombing in October 1940, and rebuilt thereafter (but without the porte-cochere). In 1946, the house became the home of the Imperial Defence College, now the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...

. Seaford House is usually open to the public free of charge on

Open House Weekend Open House London is an annual festival celebrating the architecture and urban landscape of London. It is staged by the charity Open City which campaigns to make London a more accessible, equitable and open city. During the Open House festival, ...

each September. But it can also be seen on screen. The main vestibule doubled as ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

s Grand Staircase in the 1979 miniseries '' SOS Titanic''. It was also used in the filming of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Seaford House later stood in as the exterior of the home of Maggie Gyllenhaal's character Nessa Stein in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

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