Carlton House Terrace

Carlton House Terrace refers to a street in the St James's district of London' England, and in particular to two terraces of white stucco houses on the south side of the street overlooking St James's Park. These terraces were built in 1827-32 to overall designs by John Nash with detailed input by other architects including Decimus Burton. They took the place of Carlton House, and the freehold still belongs to the Crown Estate.

Related Topics:
St James's - London - England - St James's Park - John Nash - Decimus Burton - Carlton House - Crown Estate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two terraces are Grade I listed buildings. Each terrace consists of nine large houses. The are unusual among expensive London terraced houses in that they do not have a mews to the rear. The reason for this was that Nash wanted the houses to make the best possible use of the view of the park, and also to present an attractive facade to the park. The service accommodation was placed in two storeys of basements (rather than the usual one) and underneath broad terraces between the houses and the park. The Duke of York Column and Steps are located between the East and West terraces, leading down from Waterloo Place to St James's Park. The building were severely damaged in the Second World War. The facades have been restored to their original state, but many of the interiors are much altered.

Related Topics:
Grade I listed buildings - Mews - Duke of York Column - Second World War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Up until World War II Carlton House Terrace was one of the most fashionable residential addresses in London. The Prussian Legates, and later their successors the German Ambassadors, occupied Number 9 from 1849 until World War II, eventually combining it with Number 8. The terrace has had several famous residents including:

Related Topics:
Prussia - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Lord Palmerston (Prime Minister): at Number 5 from 1840-46.
• Earl Grey (Prime Minister): at Number 13 from 1851-57 and again from 1859-80.
• William Gladstone (Prime Minister): at Number 4 in 1856 and Number 11 from 1857-75.
• Lord Curzon (Foreign Secretary and Viceroy of India): at Number 1 from 1905-25.
• Joachim von Ribbentrop (German Ambassador): at Number 9 from 1936-38.

Most of the houses are now occupied by businesses, institutes and learned societies. Number 9 is now the home of the Royal Society (the present German Embassy is in Belgrave Square). The Institute of Contemporary Arts occupies much of the basement of the East Terrace. The Crown Estate has had its headquarters in four houses in the terrace for many years, but as of 2005 it is reconstructing a building in Regent Street, which is also part of the Crown Estate, for its own use. The intention is to convert one of the vacated houses into a single residence and the other three into apartments. This is in line with a trend in London to reconvert terraced houses from offices to residential use, the same thing having happened recently in Belgrave Square and various less prestigious addresses. Terraced houses were suitable for office use in the days when separate offices were expected, but they cannot be adapted to modern requirements for open plan offices. On the other hand demand there is rising demand for residential property in central London as London's population began to grow in the 1980s after several decades of decline.

Related Topics:
Royal Society - Belgrave Square - Institute of Contemporary Arts - Regent Street

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the west end of the Carlton House Terrace is a cul-de-sac called Carlton Gardens, which was developed at around the same time. It contained seven large houses. World War I field marshal Lord Kitchener once lived at Number 2 and Number 4 was home to Lord Palmerston for a time and later served as General de Gaulle's headquarters during World War II. All the houses except numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced. Number 1 is an official ministerial residence, and is normally used by the Foreign Secretary.

Related Topics:
World War I - Field marshal - Lord Kitchener - Lord Palmerston - General de Gaulle - World War II - Foreign Secretary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Carlton House Terrace: External link ►