51°29′57″N0°9′4″W/ 51.49917°N 0.15111°W
Seaford House,previouslySefton House,is a formeraristocraticmansionand the largest of the detached town houses sited on each corner ofBelgrave Square,London,England.[1]Amagnoliastuccobuilding with four main storeys, it is most famed for its interiors (the first floor, orpiano nobile,being decorated inBeaux-Artsstyle).
Early history
editDating from 1842,Sefton Housewas designed byPhilip Hardwickto meet the requirements of the3rd Earl of Sefton.[2]Thetown house,with its railings and gate piers, is listedGrade II*for architectural merit.[3]The 3rd and 4thEarls of Seftonenjoyed using it as theirLondontown house;the5th earl,being an invalid, could not do so and after he died childless in 1901,[4]itsleasewas sold toWilliam Tebb.
Lord Howard de Walden,alsoBaron Seaford,[5]acquired the lease of the house in 1902 renaming itSeaford Houseand installedfriezes,panelling,and astaircaseof greenonyxspecially imported fromSouth America.[6]
Later history
editRequisitioned by theWartime Governmentin 1940, and for a while was used as offices by theAir Ministry,Seaford House was badly damaged byLuftwaffeaerial bombing in October 1940, and rebuilt thereafter (but without theporte-cochère). In 1946, it became the home of theImperial Defence College,now theRoyal College of Defence Studies.
Seaford House is usually open to the public free of charge onOpen House Weekendeach September and can also be seen on screen. The main vestibule doubled asTitanic'sGrand Staircasein the 1979 miniseriesSOS Titanic.It was also used in the filming ofUpstairs, Downstairsand later of the BBC spy showSpooks.Seaford House stood in as the exterior of the home ofMaggie Gyllenhaal's character Nessa Stein in theBBCandSundanceTVtelevision miniseriesThe Honourable Womanin 2014. It can also be seen (doubling as the US Embassy) in the 2021 filmThe King's Man.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Girling, Brian (10 September 2013).Belgravia & Knightsbridge Through Time.Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 9.ISBN978-1-4456-2684-0.
- ^Avery, Derek (2003).Victorian and Edwardian Architecture.Chaucer. p. 127.ISBN978-1-904449-02-7.
- ^Historic England,"Seaford House and railings and gate piers (1066459)",National Heritage List for England,retrieved15 February2016
- ^burkespeerage
- ^library.leeds.ac.uk
- ^Douglas-Home, Jessica (1996).Violet: The Life and Loves of Violet Gordon Woodhouse.Harvill Press. p. 191.ISBN978-1-86046-269-6.
- ^thecinemaholic
External links
editBibliography
edit- Stourton, James (2012).Great Houses of London.London: Frances Lincoln.ISBN978-0-7112-3366-9.
 | This article about a London building or structure is astub.You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |