Dartmouth House is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house in Mayfair, central London, England. It now serves as the headquarters of the English-Speaking Union (ESU), an educational charity. It is located at 37 Charles Street, southwest of

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

. Over 40,000 people use the building each year. The original building was constructed in the mid 18th-century; what today comprises Dartmouth House was two separate residences, numbers 37 and 38 Charles Street.37 and 38, Charles Street W1, Westminster
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 13 February 2016. The first owner of number 37 was

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon Colonel Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon DL, FSA (3 June 1772 – 16 April 1833), styled The Honourable Henry Herbert from 1780 to 1793 and Lord Porchester from 1793 to 1811, was a British peer, nobleman, and Whig politician. Backg ...

, from 1757 to 1776. In 1870, the banker Edward Baring bought both properties and on his creation as Baron Revelstoke in 1885, he converted the two houses into one to house his collection of French antique furniture and art. He remodelled and refurbished the house in a French

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style. There is a painted ceiling by Pierre-Victor Galland above the grand staircase. However, a crisis at Baring Brothers and Co Bank meant that spending on the buildings was curtailed and all building and design work ceased. Many of Lord Revelstoke's furnishings and objects d’art had to be sold at auction, although he continued to live here until his death in 1897. The next owner,

William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth, (6 May 1851 – 11 March 1936), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1853 and 1891, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household between 1885 and 1886 ...

, made the most significant changes to the interior of the house in 1900, with the creation of the Long and Small Drawing Rooms. The house was used as the Dartmouth family home until the outbreak of war in 1914, when it was used by the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

. It was sold again in 1918 to the Hon. Mrs Robert Lindsay. Dartmouth House was purchased by the English-Speaking Union in 1926 for the sum of £45,000 from the Hon. Mrs Robert Lindsay. It was formally opened as the London Headquarters of the ESU by the Prime Minister, Sir Stanley Baldwin, on the 22 February 1927. Today, Dartmouth House is an important heritage building in Mayfair, designated a Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

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* {{coord, 51.5079, -0.1468, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II* listed houses in London Houses in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures in Mayfair Houses completed in the 18th century