Chesterfield House, Westminster
Chesterfield House was a grand London townhouse built between 1747 and 1752 by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, statesman and man of letters. The exterior was in the Palladian style, the interior Baroque. It stood in Mayfair on the north side of Curzon Street, between South Audley Street and what is now Chesterfield Street. It was demolished in 1937 and on its site now stands a block of flats of the same name.
The French travel writer Pierre-Jean Grosley in his book Londres considered the house to be equal to the hotels particuliers of the nobility in Paris.
History
The house was built on land belonging to Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe by Isaac Ware. In his "Letters to his Son", Chesterfield wrote from "Hotel Chesterfield" on 31 March 1749: "I have yet finished nothing but my boudoir and my library; the former is the gayest and most cheerful room in England; the latter the best. My garden is now turfed, planted and sown, and will in two months more make a scene of verdure and flowers not common in London."Ownership and Occupants
In 1850 George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield leased the House to James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn, who occupied the property until 1869. Faced with the prospect of demolition in 1869, the house was purchased by the City merchant Charles Magniac, for a reported sum of £175,000. Magniac considerably curtailed the grounds in the rear, and erected a row of buildings overlooking Chesterfield Street, named Chesterfield Gardens.In 1884 Magniac sold Chesterfield House to brewing millionaire Sir Michael Bass, 1st Bt. Bass was elevated to the House of Lord as Baron Burton in 1884, and retained ownedship of Chesterfield House, where he died in 1909. Under the terms of Lord Burton's Will, a life interest in the House was granted to his widow, then to his daughter Nellie Lisa Melles, 2nd Baroness Burton, and thereafter entailed to her son Michael Baillie, 3rd Baron Burton and his heirs in tail male.
Following Lord Burton's death, the Dowager Lady Burton leased the House to Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe and his American millionaire wife Mary Goelet. The Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe loaned the House to the British Government during World War I, and the house was placed at the disposal of the Head of the American Special Mission to the United Kingdom Colonel House immediately upon his arrival in London on 7 November 1917. The House continued to be Colonel House's base in London until 1919.
Royal Residence: 1923-1934
The Duchess of Roxburghe relinquished her lease of Chesterfield House in 1919; in the previous year the House had purchased by Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles from the Dowager Lady Burton for £140,000, and he took up residence following Colonel House's departure in 1919. Lord Lascelles later married Princess Mary in 1923, and the House served the couple's London home until the early 1930's. The house was loaned to Princess Mary's brother and sister-in-law Prince Albert, Duke of York and Elizabeth, Duchess of York as a temporary residence during the London season of 1924.In 1931, King George V and Queen Mary purchased 32 Green Street, Mayfair as a London home for Princess Mary, rendering Chesterfield House superfluous to the couple's needs. Lord Harewood and Princess Mary moved out of the house on the weekend of 19-20 December 1931, and Lord Harewood sold the property in 1934.
Demolition
Following the sale of the house by Lord Harewood in 1934, the House was demolished and a new block of apartments had been erected on the site of the former Mansion. The new apartment building was also known as Chesterfield House, and reportedly had a rent-roll of £36,000 when it was sold to the Prudential Assurance Company in mid-1939.Interior Features
Library
The Quarterly Review, no. 125, reported:Staircase
The columns of the screen facing the courtyard and the marble staircase with bronze balustrade came from Cannons, near Edgware, the mansion of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos which was demolished shortly after his death, the materials being sold at auction in 1747. Chesterfield also bought at the auction the portico and railings. Chesterfield also furnished his new mansion with artefacts from the sale at Houghton Hall, the country house of Robert Walpole, including an 18-candle copper-gilt lantern. The library was hung with portraits of the earl's ancestors. As a piece of satire concerning the fashion for boasts of ancient ancestry, he placed amongst these portraits two old portraits which he inscribed "Adam de Stanhope" and "Eve de Stanhope".Creation of Stanhope Street
Chesterfield formed Stanhope Street on adjoining land purchased from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.Description in 1869
The following description is reproduced in Edward Walford's Old & New London:George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex remembered seeing the earl sitting on a rustic seat in front of his mansion, basking in the sun.