Dudley House, London
Dudley Houseis aGrade II*listed house with 44,000 square feet (4,100 m2) located at 100Park Lanein theMayfairarea ofLondon,England.[1]It is one of the few surviving aristocratictownhousesin London. Dudley House is named after the Ward family, holders of the titles of Baron Ward, Viscount Dudley and Ward, andEarl of Dudley.
History
[edit]An earlier house with stabling on the site was acquired in 1742 by the6th Baron Ward.In 1759, the 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward undertook substantial alterations to the property. Between 1827 and 1829, the1st Earl of Dudley,of the first creation, rebuilt the house to the plans of the architectWilliam Atkinson.The Earl died childless and insane in 1833, and the house was leased to the2nd Marquess Conynghamand then to the2nd Marquess of Abercorn.
In 1847, the Earl's cousin, the11th Lord Ward,took over the house and remained there until his death in 1885, by which time he had become the 1st Earl of Dudley, of the second creation. In 1855, he commissioned alterations from architectSamuel Whitfield Daukesthat were most impressive, including an 81 ft picture gallery and a 50 ft ballroom. After inheriting from his father, the2nd Earl of Dudleyextended the conservatory over the porch.[2]
In 1895, the house was sold toSir Joseph Robinson, 1st Baronet,a South African mining magnate.[3]Robinson frequently used the house for entertaining, hosting performances by singersNellie MelbaandClara Buttat the house.[3]In 1912, SirJohn Hubert Wardbought the building back for 10,000 pounds, and remained there until his death in 1938.
Dudley House was severely damaged inthe BlitzduringWorld War II,and the property reverted into the possession of theGrosvenor Estate.It became a temporary office, before it began to deteriorate into a near ruin. Hammerson, a British property development and investment company, converted the house into offices, to designs by architects SirBasil Spenceand Anthony Blee in 1969–70. The architects remained sympathetic to Dudley House's historic interiors,[3]but the rear of the house was completely reconstructed, the war-damaged ballroom and picture gallery disappearing, with only sections of the ceiling of the latter surviving under a false-ceiling. The house remained as offices for sixty years before its reversion to a private residence.[4]
In 2004, Hammerson appointed Formation Architects (then the Halpern Partnership) to obtain planning permission for change of use from an office to residential use as a single family dwelling.
In 2006, Hammerson and the freeholder, the Grosvenor Estate, sold the leasehold for £37.4 million to Bristol Isles Ltd., a private investment company controlled by theEmir of Qatar.[5]The house was subject to a major refurbishment to the designs of Formation Architects with interior decoration byAlberto Pinto,and restoration which included a rebuilding of the historic picture gallery and ballroom. The house is now the London residence of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, son of SheikhAbdullah bin Khalifa Al-Thani,a brother of the former Emir of Qatar, and first cousin of the current emir,Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
A 2015Vanity Fairmagazine profile of the house described it as London's most valuable private residence, at about $400 million, and thatQueen Elizabeth II,a visitor, had supposedly said that the house "...makes Buckingham Palace look rather dull".[6]
Soon after the article was published, Westminster Council rejected a Qatari planning application to combine two mansions onCornwall TerraceinRegent's Parkto create a 17-bedroom palace.The Guardianalleged that the previous publicity had caused concern among the ruling family of Qatar, quoting a source as saying that Qatar was seen as "very bling" with a view that this "...needs to be brought under control."[7]
Together withLancaster House,Bridgewater House,Apsley HouseandSpencer House,Dudley House is an outstanding surviving example of the grand townhouses that once adorned central London. Dudley House andStanhope Houseare the only two left of the original ten mansions that lined Park Lane in 1900.[8]
References
[edit]- ^Historic England."Dudley House (1226028)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved19 September2013.
- ^"Park Lane | British History Online".www.british-history.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 30 September 2015.Retrieved29 September2015.
- ^abcStourton 2012,pp. 220–228
- ^Stourton 2012,pp. 184–187
- ^Benedictus, Leo (25 June 2013)."Qatar: 12 things you need to know".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2015.Retrieved31 January2015.
- ^Reginato, James (February 2015)."Sheikh Shack".Vanity Fair.Archived fromthe originalon 20 January 2015.Retrieved16 January2015.
- ^Booth, Robert; Clark, Tim (31 January 2015)."Westminster council rejects Qatari royal family's plans for £200m palace".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 29 January 2015.Retrieved31 January2015.
- ^Inwood, Stephen (28 June 2012).Historic London: An Explorer's Companion.Pan Macmillan. p. 118.ISBN978-0-230-75252-8.Retrieved3 February2018.
Bibliography
[edit]- Stourton, James (2012).Great Houses of London.London: Frances Lincoln.ISBN978-0-7112-3366-9.
