- Portland Place
Portland Place is a street in the
Marylebone district of centralLondon . It was laid out by the brothers Robert and James Adam for theDuke of Portland in the late 18th century and originally ran north from the gardens of a detached mansion called Foley House. It was said that the width of the street was conditioned by the Duke's obligation to his tenant,Lord Foley , that his views to the north would not be interfered with.In the early 19th century Portland Place was incorporated into the royal route from
Carlton House toRegent's Park developed for thePrince Regent by John Nash. The street is unusually wide for central London (33 metres / 110 feet; "Norrie & Bohm"), yet is kept relatively free of traffic. It still contains many of the spacious Georgianterraced house s built by the Adams, as well as some early 20th century buildings and a few post World War II bombing infills. Many of the houses are now occupied by company headquarters, professional bodies, and embassies. The landmark building ofRoyal Institute of British Architects sits directly opposite the Chinese embassy; for years practitioners ofFalun Gong have mounted a silent protest in front of the former and facing the latter. In addition, Portland Place remains a fashionable address with some very exclusive blocks of mansion flats.Its northern end opens into Nash's elegant
stucco semi-circle Park Crescent, which in turn leads on to Park Square andRegent's Park . There are two landmark buildings at the south end of the street, although both are technically in Langham Place: the grand late VictorianLangham Hotel , andBBC Broadcasting House . Langham Place is a short road which connects Portland Place to UpperRegent Street , although on the ground they all appear to be one street.Literary references
* Portland Place is the London address of Adam Verver and his wife, the former Charlotte Stant, in the last complete major novel by Henry James, The Golden Bowl.
* Portland place is the home ofRichard Hannay in John Buchan's novel "The Thirty-nine Steps "References
* "Georgian London" (1945) by Sir
John Summerson ISBN 0-7126-2095-8
*ee also
*
List of eponymous roads in London External links
* [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=528870&y=181613&z=1&sv=Portland+Place&st=6&tl=Portland+Place,+London,+W_1A&searchp=newsearch.srf&mapp=newmap.srf Map]
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