- Carlton House Terrace
Carlton House Terrace refers to a street in the
St. James's district ofLondon ,England , and in particular to two terraces of whitestucco -faced houses on the south side of the street overlookingSt. James's Park . These terraces were built in 1827-32 to overall designs by John Nash with detailed input by other architects includingDecimus Burton . They took the place ofCarlton House , and the freehold still belongs to theCrown Estate .Overview
The two terraces are Grade I listed buildings. Each terrace consists of nine large houses. They are unusual among expensive London terraced houses in that they do not have a
mews to the rear. The reason for this was that Nash wanted the houses to make the best possible use of the view of the park, and also to present an attractive facade to the park. The service accommodation was placed in two storeys of basements (rather than the usual one) and underneath broad terraces between the houses and the park.The
Duke of York Column and Steps are located between the East and West terraces, leading down from Waterloo Place to the Mall and St. James's Park. The buildings were severely damaged in theSecond World War . The facades have been restored to their original state, but many of the interiors are much altered. The first occupants were free to commission their own architect to complete the interior - eleven chose Nash, of which only that in number 7 remains largely intact.Up until World War II, Carlton House Terrace was one of the most fashionable residential addresses in London. The
Prussia n Legates, and later their successors the German Ambassadors, inhabited Number 9 from 1849 untilWorld War II , eventually combining it with Number 8. The terrace has had several famous residents including:* Lord Palmerston (Prime Minister): at Number 5 from 1840-46.
* Earl Grey (Prime Minister): at Number 13 from 1851-57 and again from 1859-80.
*William Gladstone (Prime Minister): at Number 4 in 1856 and Number 11 from 1857-75.
* Lord Curzon (Foreign Secretary andViceroy of India ): at Number 1 from 1905-25.
*Joachim von Ribbentrop (German Ambassador): at Numbers 8 and 9 [ [http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=2179 History of 6-9 Carlton House Terrace ] ] from 1936-38.Most of the houses are now occupied by businesses, institutes and learned societies.
* Number 1 is the headquarters of theInstitute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
* Number 2 houses theRoyal College of Pathologists
* Numbers 3-4 houses theRoyal Academy of Engineering and theInstitute for Government
* Numbers 6-9 are now the home of theRoyal Society (the present German Embassy is inBelgrave Square )
* Numbers 10-11 houses theBritish Academy TheInstitute of Contemporary Arts occupies much of the basement of the East Terrace. The Crown Estate has had its headquarters in four houses in the terrace for many years (numbers 13-16), but as of 2005 it is reconstructing a building inRegent Street , which is also part of the Crown Estate, for its own use. In September 2006, theHindujas , who presently have an apartment at number 24, successfully purchased the property for 58 million pounds. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/09/03/nosplit/dp0301.xml#head5 Mandrake - Telegraph ] ]Carlton Gardens
At the west end of the Carlton House Terrace is a cul-de-sac called Carlton Gardens, which was developed at around the same time. It contained seven large houses.
World War I field marshal Lord Kitchener once lived at Number 2 and Number 4 was home to Lord Palmerston for a time and later served as GeneralCharles de Gaulle 's headquarters duringWorld War II . All the houses except numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced by office blocks. Number 1 is an official ministerial residence, and is normally used by the Foreign Secretary. Number 2 is used by thePrivy Council Office . [ [http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/page21.asp Contacting the Privy Council Office ] ]Plans were also made to demolish
Marlborough House to the west and replace it with a terrace of similar dimensions to the two in Carlton House Terrace, and this idea even featured on some contemporary maps, including Christopher and John Greenwood large scale London map of 1830, [ [http://www.motco.com/map/81003/ MOTCO - Image Database ] ] but this proposal was not implemented.References
External links
* [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?tip=1&id=1644 The Royal Society: Homes of the Society] with architectural history and list of known tenants of numbers 6-9.
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