Douglas House, Westminster

Last updated

Douglas House
3645a9e1f034ae2f9218c1dfb535c75000f72c80 645 430.jpg
Douglas House, Westminster
General information
TypeHotel
Architectural styleeclectic classical style with English Baroque details and French touches
LocationLondon
CountryEngland
Coordinates 51°30′41.3″N0°10′55.5″W / 51.511472°N 0.182083°W / 51.511472; -0.182083
Current tenantsLancaster Gate Hotel
Completedc. 1866
Technical details
Floor count7

The Douglas House was a US servicemen's club operated by the United States Air Force for twenty-five years at two different locations in London's West End. The club's purpose was to provide "home-style service" for the thousands of American airmen based in the United Kingdom and US servicemen of all branches who might be passing through. [1] The first location opened after the Second World War in Mayfair. In 1959 the Douglas House was relocated to Lancaster Gate, near Hyde Park. In the early 1960s, its nightclub served as a springboard for the budding career of a nascent London band called the Detours, that later went on to greater fame as The Who. When the club closed in 1970, the property was sold to a private firm.

Contents

Location

The original Douglas House, which opened either during or after the Second World War, occupied the former Guards Club building at 41–43 Brook Street in Mayfair. [2] The second Douglas House was located at 66 Lancaster Gate, W2, in the Bayswater/Hyde Park district of London, one block north of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and the actual Lancaster Gate on Bayswater Road.

Amenities

The facilities of the first Douglas House included volleyball, handball, and badminton courts and evening cabarets and dances. [3] The second Douglas House, on Lancaster Gate, had 110 low-cost hotel rooms for families as well as singles, a restaurant, nightclub, soda bar, four-chair barber shop, TV lounge, bureau de change, and a newsstand that sold American periodicals. [4] One former serviceman remembered that the restaurant, which "specialized in steaks, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken wings, ham, roasts, and baked and fried chicken," was "the best place [in London] for American food." [5]

History

Lancaster Gate Hotel (formerly the Douglas House) Lancaster Gate Hotel (formerly the Douglas House), London, England.jpg
Lancaster Gate Hotel (formerly the Douglas House)

The first Douglas House opened in the former Guards Club on Brook Street, W1, either during or immediately after the Second World War as a leave centre for US servicemen. The building that housed the second club was originally a block of white stuccoed flats or townshouses built in the Victorian era as part of a Bayswater area real estate development. After the Air Force acquired the property, the Douglas House began operating on 2 May 1959. It was jointly named for Air Force Secretary James H. Douglas, Jr. and Lewis Williams Douglas, a former US ambassador to Great Britain. [6] In 1960, in honour of the marriage of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones, the club attracted attention by offering free dinners on the royal wedding day, 6 May, to any serviceman named Tony who had a wife named Margaret. [7] That same year, the Douglas House sponsored an Independence Day celebration in Battersea Gardens that attracted thousands of American servicemen and their families. [8] In November 1960 the club hosted an all-night presidential election watch party. [9] In late 1962 a five-piece London band called the Detours played several dates at the Douglas House nightclub. Later, after changing their name to The Who, the group went on to become of one Great Britain's most popular and successful rock bands. [10] [11] On 12 June 1963, Country and Western singer Jim Reeves also performed at the Douglas House. [12] In 1970 the Douglas House was sold by Druce and Company to Adda Hotels, which later remodelled the property and then reopened it as the 188-room full-service Charles Dickens Hotel. [13] In 1999, the property was acquired by Ryan Hotels for £16.9 million. [14] Following further remodelling, it was operated as the Hyde Park Gresham Hotel until 2007 when it became the Park Inn Hotel. Presently, the property is known as the Lancaster Gate Hotel (not to be confused with the nearby Lancaster, London).

Blue plaque

A blue plaque, attached to the Leinster Terrace end of the building in 1977, commemorates American author Bret Harte, who resided and died at 74 Lancaster Gate in 1902.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayswater</span> Inner-city district of west Central London

Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and Notting Hill to the west.

<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">Paddington</span> Area of central London, England

Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel opened in 1847. It is also the site of St Mary's Hospital and the former Paddington Green Police Station.

<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">Hyde Park, London</span> Royal Park in London, United Kingdom

Hyde Park is a 350-acre (140 ha), historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Park</span> Royal park in London, England

The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the middle of a near-continuous chain of green spaces in Westminster that includes St James's Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. To the northwest of Green Park is the district of St James's including, Lancaster House, Clarence House, and St James's Palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster Gate tube station</span> London Underground station

Lancaster Gate is a London Underground station near Lancaster Gate on Bayswater Road in Paddington, to the north of Kensington Gardens. It is on the Central line between Queensway and Marble Arch stations and is in Travelcard Zone 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Paddington</span> Former borough of London

Paddington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of the County of London in 1889. The parish of Paddington became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of the City of Westminster in Greater London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayswater Road</span> Road in west London, running along the northern boundary of Hyde Park

Bayswater Road is the main road running along the northern edge of Hyde Park in London. Originally part of the A40 road, it is now designated part of the A402 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Rachman</span> Polish property mogul (1919–1962)

Perec "Peter" Rachman was a Polish-born landlord who operated in Notting Hill, London, England, in the 1950s and early 1960s. He became notorious for his exploitation of his tenants, with the word "Rachmanism" entering the Oxford English Dictionary as a synonym for the exploitation and intimidation of tenants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster Gate</span> Human settlement

Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

Cities of London and Westminster is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. As with all constituencies, the election is decided using the first past the post system of election. From its creation at the 1950 general election to the 2024 general election, the constituency had always elected the candidate nominated by the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster North (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Former Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983-1997 and 2010-2024

Westminster North was a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It existed for the periods 1983–1997 and 2010–2024.

Paddington was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Paddington district of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, partially replacing the previous Paddington North and Paddington South constituencies, and abolished for the 1983 general election. A Paddington borough constituency has three times been recommended during early stages of Boundary Commission inquiries, only to be altered before the final report was issued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craven Hill Gardens</span>

Craven Hill Gardens is a classical, Victorian, residential garden estate which has two small garden squares, the green subset of squares in London. It is in Bayswater, in its Lancaster Gate neighbourhood, south-west of contemporary Paddington of which those districts were once part. It is made up of four rows of residential buildings lining its three streets, and eastern returns, between 160 and 250 metres north of Hyde Park. The western return of this street configuration is partly Leinster Gardens and partly named Leinster Terrace.

Below is a list of sheriffs of the County of London, from the creation of the county in 1889 to its abolition in 1965:

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

The Lancasters is a residential development in London, England, with 77 apartments, the majority of which face south with views onto or across Hyde Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyde Park Estate</span> Residential district in London

The Hyde Park Estate is a residential district in the Paddington area of London. It is an affluent area, characterised by a layout of squares and crescents, and is home to several embassies, prestigious businesses and celebrities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leconfield House</span> Building in Curzon Street, London

Leconfield House is a building in Mayfair, London. It was the headquarters of the Security Service (MI5) from 1945 to 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Street, Mayfair</span>

Park Street is a street in Mayfair, London, England. It is the longest street on the Grosvenor Estate.

References

  1. ↑ Springfield Union, 3 May 1959
  2. ↑ Williamson, Geoffrey (1956). Star Spangled Square. Geoffrey Bles, Ltd. p. 6.
  3. ↑ Williamson, Geoffrey (1956). Star Spangled Square. Geoffrey Bles, Ltd.
  4. ↑ Springfield Union, 3 May 1959.
  5. ↑ Collins, Gerald (2004). Douglas House. 1st WorldLibrary. p. 75. ISBN   0-9745624-0-8.
  6. ↑ Springfield Union, 3 May 1959.
  7. ↑ Omaha World Herald, 29 April 1960
  8. ↑ San Diego Union, 5 July 1960
  9. ↑ Rockford Morning Star, 9 November 1960
  10. ↑ McMichael, Joe (2004). The Who: Concert File. Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-737-2.
  11. ↑ Wilkerson, Mark (2009). Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend. Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-008-3.
  12. ↑ Jordan, Larry (2011). Jim Reeves: His Untold Story. Page Turner Books International. pp. 494–5. ISBN   978-0-615-52430-6.
  13. ↑ The Estates Gazette, vol. 216, p. 261
  14. ↑ Irish Times, 17 July 1999
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.