Belgrave Square
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belgrave Square is one of the grandest 19th century squares in London, England. Bordering Knightsbridge, it is a centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. The square is presumably named for the village of Belgrave, Cheshire, two miles from the Grosvenor family's main country seat of Eaton Hall.
The square consists of four terraces, each made up of eleven very grand white stuccoed houses; detached mansions in three of the corners; and a private central garden. A statue of Christopher Columbus stands outside the railings at one corner. The terraces were designed by George Basevi and are possibly the grandest houses ever built in London on a speculative basis. The largest of the corner mansions, Seaford House in the south east corner, was designed by Philip Hardwick, and the one in the north west corner was designed by Robert Smirke.
[edit] Tenants
From its construction until World War II, the square was occupied by leading members of the British aristocracy, with an increasing number of plutocrats added to the mix in later decades. It is also, and remains to this day, the home of a number of embassies, including the German Embassy, which occupies three houses on the west side, and the Syrian Embassy. After World War II, most of the houses were converted into offices for charities and institutes. This is now being reversed, with leases of three houses being offered for sale and conversion to residential use by the Grosvenor Estate in 2004. No. 47 came on the market for residential conversion in 2007 at a guide price of £35 million. According to the estate agent's brochure it was 18,123 square feet (1,692 square metres) including its mews house and vaults. [1] This was one of the three bay houses, suggesting an approximate size of 27,000 square feet for the five bay houses.
The present Duke of Westminster remains the freeholder of the square.
Current tenants include:
- Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square
- The Syrian Embassy, 8 Belgrave Square
- The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 17 Belgrave Square
- The German Embassy, 23 Belgrave Square
- Italian Cultural Institute, 39 Belgrave Square
- The Turkish Embassy, 43 Belgrave Square
[edit] References
- Georgian London, by John Summerson. 1988 edition. ISBN 0-7126-2095-8.
