- Londonderry House
Londonderry House was an aristocratic townhouse situated on
Park Lane in theMayfair district ofLondon , England. The house was the home to the Irish, titled family called the Stewarts who are better known as theMarquesses of Londonderry .It remained their London residence until its demolition in 1965.Brief History
Londonderry House was bought by the Third
Marquess of Londonderry in 1819 to serve as a home whilst the family stayed in London during the season. Although the house was in their possession for more the 150 years it actually started life before the Londonderrys.The house was bought by the SixthEarl of Holdernesse more than half a century before in the 1760's when theEarl is thought to have bought the house next door as well but at a later date. He later joined the two so the house became a double fronted "LondonMansion ".In 1819 Charles William Vane, Third
Marquess of Londonderry bought the huge house to become the London home of the family during their long stays in the capital. (The family also owned the palatialWynyard Park, County Durham andMount Stewart inNorthern Ireland ). Soon after this, he began redecorating. TheMarquess spared no expense- shown in his taste of architects: the Wyatt brothers,Benjamin Dean Wyatt andPhilip Wyatt .By 1835 the grand transformation was complete and it was the awe of London. The main stairway was meant to outdo that of nearby
Lancaster House in nearbySt James . It succeeded in this- it had a large skylight,Rococo chandelier and two individual flights of stairs flanking each other. This graceful stairway led into the Grand Ballroom which, rather individually held pictures of the Stewart family men inGarter Robes . Said to have been inspired by the 'Waterloo Chamber' ofApsley House , it also outdid that. Around the room were largeMarble statues byCanova and chairs in the French style.On from that was the Dining Room which held the Londonderrys' amazing collection of silver, known as the 'Londonderry Silver' (most of which was bought by theBrighton council for theRoyal Pavilion where it can be seen today, along with the Ormonde silver too).Another elegant room was the tri-partie Drawing Room which held more Londonderry Silver, French furniture, international paintings and painted ceilings with birds.
During World War I the house was requested for use by the government like the nearby
Grosvenor House (London home of theDuke of Westminster ), also on Park Lane. The state rooms were gutted and the house was rarely used again even though it remained their possession.The Londonderry age was over by the late 1950s due to the huge expense a house of that size would create.It was sold in 1965 when the Hilton Hotel which now stands on the site demolished it to increase the size of the hotel.
Marquesses of Londonderry (1816)
*
Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry (1739-1821)
*Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (1769-1822)
*Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854)
*Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805-1872)
*George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry (1821-1884)
*Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry (1852-1915)
*Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878-1949)
*Edward Charles Stewart Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry (1902-1955)
*Alexander Charles Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry (b. 1937)The
Heir Apparent is the present holder's eldest son Frederick Aubrey Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (b. 1972)ee also
*
Mount Stewart
*Wynyard Park, County Durham
*Plas Machynlleth
*Seaham Hall
*Loring Hall
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