Chesterfield House was a grand London townhouse built between 1747 and 1752 by

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfie ...

(1694–1773), statesman and man of letters. The exterior was 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, the interior

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. It stood in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

on the north side of

Curzon Street Curzon Street is a street in Mayfair, London, within the W1J postcode district, that ranges from Fitzmaurice Place, past Shepherd Market, to Park Lane. It is named after Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet, who inherited the landholding during ...

, between

South Audley Street South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. Bri ...

and what is now

Chesterfield Street Chesterfield Street is a "virtually intact" Georgian street (except for No. 6, which is a reconstruction) in London's Mayfair district. Several of the buildings are Listed building#England and Wales, Grade II listed on the National Heritage List ...

. It was demolished in 1937 and on its site now stands a block of flats of the same name. The French travel writer

Pierre-Jean Grosley Pierre-Jean Grosley (Troyes, 18 November 1718 – Troyes, 4 November 1785) was a French man of letters, local historian, travel writer and observer of social mores in the Age of Enlightenment and a contributor to the ''Encyclopédie ou Diction ...

in his book ''Londres'' (1770, translated as ''Tour to London'') considered the house to be equal to the '' hotels particuliers'' of the nobility in Paris.

History

The house was built on land belonging to

Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving in the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations agai ...

Isaac Ware Isaac Ware (1704–1766) was an English architect and translator of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Early life Ware was born to a life of poverty, living as a street urchin and working as a chimney sweep, until he was adopted by ...

. In his "Letters to his Son", Chesterfield wrote from "Hotel Chesterfield" on 31 March 1749: "I have yet finished nothing but my ''boudoir'' and my library; the former is the gayest and most cheerful room in England; the latter the best. My garden is now turfed, planted and sown, and will in two months more make a scene of verdure and flowers not common in London."

Library

The ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...

'' (founded 1809), no. 125, reported:

Staircase

The columns of the screen facing the courtyard and the marble staircase with bronze balustrade came from

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...

, near

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

, the mansion of

James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, (6 January 16739 August 1744) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons from 1698 until 1714, wh ...

(d.1744) which was demolished shortly after his death, the materials being sold at auction in 1747. Chesterfield also bought at the auction the portico and railings. Chesterfield also furnished his new mansion with artefacts from the sale at

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the '' de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, in 1722, ...

, the

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

, including an 18-candle copper-gilt lantern. The library was hung with portraits of the earl's ancestors. As a piece of satire concerning the fashion for boasts of ancient ancestry, he placed amongst these portraits two old portraits which he inscribed "Adam de Stanhope" and "Eve de Stanhope".

Creation of Stanhope Street

Chesterfield formed Stanhope Street on adjoining land purchased from the

Dean and Chapter of Westminster The Dean and Chapter of Westminster are the ecclesiastical governing body of Westminster Abbey, a collegiate church of the Church of England and royal peculiar in Westminster, Greater London. They consist of the dean and several canons meeting i ...

Description in 1869

Interior of library of Chesterfield House by Philip Norman

The following description is reproduced in

Edward Walford Edward Walford (1823–1897) was an England, English magazine editor and a compiler of educational, biographical, genealogical and touristic works, perhaps best known for the final four volumes of ''Old and New London'' (Cassell (publisher), Cas ...

's ''Old & New London'':

George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (13 November 1757 – 23 April 1839) was an English aristocrat and politician, and styled Viscount Malden until 1799. His surname was Capell until 1781. Early life ...

(d.1839) remembered seeing the earl sitting on a rustic seat in front of his mansion, basking in the sun.

Sale

Faced with the prospect of demolition in 1869, the house was purchased by the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

merchant

Charles Magniac Charles Magniac (1827 – 23 November 1891) was a British financier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1868 and 1886. Magniac was the eldest son of Hollingworth Magniac of Colworth, Bedfordshire. Fol ...

, for a reported sum of £175,000. Magniac considerably curtailed the grounds in the rear, and erected a row of buildings overlooking Chesterfield Street, named Chesterfield Gardens. The house was later purchased in 1919 by Viscount Lascelles, who later married Princess Mary in 1923. The couple moved out of the house on the weekend of 19-20 December 1931.Western Morning News, 'Princess Mary Leaves Chesterfield House, Tuesday, 22 December 1931, Page 7.

Sources

* Walford, Edward. ''Old & New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People & Its Places'', 6 vols., London, 1878, vol 4, pp. 353–359

References

External links

Bowles' map of 1775
showing Chesterfield House {{Coord , 51, 30, 25, N, 0, 9, 0, W, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Former houses in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures in Mayfair Buildings and structures demolished in 1937 Demolished buildings and structures in London 1937 disestablishments in England 18th-century establishments in England