Cambridge House

Last updated

Cambridge House in 2010, showing the neoclassical main facade Cambridge House, Piccadilly (geograph 5299411).jpg
Cambridge House in 2010, showing the neoclassical main facade
Position of Cambridge House, marked on a 1799 map of London FutureCambridgeHouse1799 edited.jpg
Position of Cambridge House, marked on a 1799 map of London

Cambridge House is a Grade I listed former townhouse in central London, England. It sits on the northern side of Piccadilly at number 94, in the fashionable district of Mayfair. As of 2021, the property is being converted into a luxury hotel and seven residences. [1]

Contents

The current name of the house comes from one of its former owners, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), the seventh son of King George III, but it was originally known as Egremont House and then Cholmondeley House. From about 1865 to 1999, it was the home of the Naval and Military Club and was known colloquially as the In and Out Club, due to its prominently signposted one-way carriage drive.

Early history

The house, situated in the fashionable parish of St George's, Hanover Square, Westminster, was built in 1756–1761 by Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710–1763), of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset and of Petworth House in Sussex, Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1761 to 1763, and was thus first known as Egremont House. The building is in the late Palladian style, to the design of the architect Matthew Brettingham. It has three main storeys plus basement and attics, and is seven bays wide. As is usual in a London mansion of the period, the first floor ( piano nobile , "second floor" in American English) is the principal floor, containing a circuit of reception rooms. This floor has the highest ceilings and its status is emphasised externally by a Venetian window in the centre.

The house changed hands several times. For several years in the 1820s, it was occupied by George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley, and was known as Cholmondeley House. From 1829 to 1850, it was the London residence of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), and became known as Cambridge House. Due to his royal status, that name has persisted. As Queen Victoria left the house after visiting her dying uncle Adolphus, Robert Pate hit her on the head with his cane.

After the duke's death in 1850, the house was purchased by Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for most of the decade between 1855 and 1865. It was his London townhouse and the site of many splendid social and political gatherings. After Palmerston's death in 1865 at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, his body was taken to Cambridge House, whence his funeral procession departed to Westminster Abbey. [2]

Later that year, Cambridge House was sold to the Naval and Military Club, which had outgrown its previous headquarters. The club came to be known as the "In and Out", from the prominent traffic-directing signs on its entrance and exit gates. Members included Lawrence of Arabia and Ian Fleming. [3]

Recent history

In 1999, the Naval and Military Club moved to new premises, having sold Cambridge House in 1996 to entrepreneur Simon Halabi for £50 million. [4] Halabi planned to convert the property into a private members' club and hotel, part of his Mentmore Towers project, and to build a swimming pool and squash courts underneath the forecourt of the house. However, the building remained vacant after 1999, and it fell into a state of disrepair. [5] Plaster was falling off the ceiling in the first floor rooms, and many floorboards had been pulled up. In 2009, Halabi's companies went into bankruptcy.

In June 2010, Cambridge House and its adjoining buildings, 90–93 Piccadilly (and 42 Half Moon Street), 95 Piccadilly (the former American Club) and 12 White Horse Street (the rear section being vacant land), as well as 96–100 Piccadilly (on the other side of White Horse Street), were all offered for sale through property brokers Jones Lang Lasalle, collectively referred to as the Piccadilly Estate, for in excess of £150m. In June 2011, the site was acquired by David and Simon Reuben for a reported £130m through their investment company, Aldersgate. [6] In October 2012, applications were submitted for a full refurbishment into private homes (Numbers 94 and 95) and residential apartments (Numbers 90–93 and 42). [7]

In April 2013, David and Simon Reuben received approval to develop the property into a 5,630 square metres (60,600 sq ft) single home. It would likely have become the UK's most expensive home, estimated to be worth about £250 million after renovation. [8] According to Bloomberg News, "the planning application for Number 94 was approved after the two investors offered to contribute £3.85 million to the construction of affordable housing in the borough." [9]

However, that development plan subsequently changed, and a new plan was conceived to convert the property into the "Cambridge House Hotel and Residences", with a five-star hotel and seven serviced residences. [10] Work on the project is being carried out by PDP London. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knightsbridge</span> District in central London, England

Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Knightsbridge is also the name of the roadway which runs near the south side of Hyde Park from Hyde Park Corner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayfair</span> Area of central London, England

Mayfair is an area in London, England and is located 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 in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Lane</span> Road in London

Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from Mayfair to the east. The road has a number of historically important properties and hotels and has been one of the most sought after streets in London, despite being a major traffic thoroughfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regent Street</span> Shopping street in London

Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regent's Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Admiralty Arch</span> Triumphal arch, government building in London, England

Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, and designed by Aston Webb, is now a Grade I listed building. In the past, it served as residence of the First Sea Lord and was used by the Admiralty. Until 2011, the building housed government offices. In 2012, the government sold the building on a 125-year lease for £60m for a proposed redevelopment into a Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel and four apartments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge</span> Seventh son of King George III (1774–1850)

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge was the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He served as Viceroy of the Kingdom of Hanover successively on behalf of his elder brothers King George IV and King William IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millbank Tower</span> Office in London, England

Millbank Tower is a 119-metre (390 ft) high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, by the River Thames in London, England. The tower was constructed in 1963, and has been home to many high-profile political organisations, including the Labour and Conservative parties, and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mentmore Towers</span> English country house in Buckinghamshire

Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, designed the building in the 19th-century revival of late 16th and early 17th-century Elizabethan and Jacobean styles called Jacobethan. The house was designed for the banker and collector of fine art Baron Mayer de Rothschild as a country home, and as a display case for his collection of fine art. The mansion has been described as one of the greatest houses of the Victorian era. Mentmore was inherited by Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery, née Rothschild, and owned by her descendants, the Earls of Rosebery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pall Mall, London</span> Street in Central London

Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century, which in turn is derived from the Italian pallamaglio, literally "ball-mallet".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petworth House</span> Country house in Petworth, West Sussex

Petworth House is a late 17th-century Grade I listed country house in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England. It was built in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect Anthony Salvin. It contains intricate wood-carvings by Grinling Gibbons. It is the manor house of the manor of Petworth. For centuries it was the southern home for the Percy family, earls of Northumberland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Trocadero</span> Entertainment complex in London

The London Trocadero was an entertainment complex on Coventry Street, with a rear entrance in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It was originally built in 1896 as a restaurant, which closed in 1965. In 1984, the complex reopened as an exhibition and entertainment space. It became known for the video-game oriented SegaWorld attractions which were added in 1996, and later downscaled and renamed to "Funland" before its closure in 2011. Part of the building was opened as a hotel in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany (London)</span> Residential apartment block in London, England

The Albany or, more correctly, and simply, Albany, is an apartment complex in Piccadilly, London. The three-storey mansion was built in the 1770s and divided into apartments in 1802.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval and Military Club</span> Private members club in London, England

The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members' club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for officers of the Navy and Army. It now also accepts female members, and members who have not served in the armed forces, but continues to observe service traditions.

David Reuben and Simon Reuben are British businessmen. In 2024, they were named the third-richest family in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List, with a net worth of £24.9 billion.

Bassam Simon Halabi is a Syrian-born British businessman and property developer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Athenaeum Hotel</span>

The Athenaeum is a family-owned five-star hotel overlooking Green Park in Piccadilly, London.

Studio PDP, formerly known as Paul Davis + Partners or PDP London, is an architectural practice based in the UK. Founded in 1994, Chairman Paul Davis retired from the practice as chairman in 2013, with the other 10 partners continuing to lead. Its head office is at Eccleston Yards, London; in recent years, it has expanded, opening an office in Hong Kong in 2011 and offices in Bath and Madrid in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townhouse (Great Britain)</span> Town or city residence of a member of the British nobility or gentry

In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the opulent town or city residence of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses were stand-alone buildings, but many were terraced buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Montcalm</span> Hotel group in London

The Montcalm Hotels are a group of luxury hotels in Central London, United Kingdom.

James Adam Reuben is a British businessman, son of billionaire investor David Reuben.

References

  1. Former private members' club to become one of London's grandest hotels under new plans from billionaire brothers
  2. Walford, Edward (1878). "Mansions in Piccadilly". Old and New London. London: Institute of Historical Research.
  3. "Article from (London) Sunday Times, accessed 20 Mar 2016". The Sunday Times . Archived from the original on 31 March 2016.
  4. Sunday Times. Rich List 2004
  5. "94 Piccadilly, Westminster, City of, Greater London". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012.
  6. "Reuben brothers splash out on Piccadilly properties". Sunday Times. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014.
  7. "Inside Britain's most expensive home – In and Out Club". Evening Standard. 29 October 2012.
  8. "London's first £250m home: A history of the in & Out • PrimeResi". 30 June 2013.
  9. "Reubens Win Approval for Mansion Near London's Ritz Hotel". Bloomberg.com. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. Reuben brothers’ 94 Piccadilly hotel plans given the go-ahead
  11. PDP London
  12. Cambridge House Hotel and Residences

51°30′21″N0°08′43″W / 51.5058°N 0.1452°W / 51.5058; -0.1452