Chesham Place

Chesham Place is a street in Belgravia, London, running between Belgrave Square and Pont Street.^[1] It is home to several embassies and has had many distinguished residents.

It was first laid out in 1831, and includes a number of listed buildings.

Chesham Place and nearby Chesham Street take their name from the town of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, and were named by William Lowndes who owned the leases on this and nearby land.

It gives its name to Chesham Amalgamations, founded at number 36 in 1962.

Individual properties

• 7 Chesham Place, High Commission of Lesotho.
• 9 Chesham Place, former studio of the milliner Simone Mirman.
• 10 Chesham Place, birthplace of Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham.
• 17 Chesham Place was converted to the Chesham Court apartments in the 1930s. Its residents have included Robin and Angela Fox, Peter Yates, Kenneth Hurren, Greta van Rantwyk, and Michael Wilding. ^[2]
• 20 Chesham Place is the Thomson Belgravia Hotel, including the Hix Belgravia restaurant, operated by Mark Hix.
• 21 Chesham Place is a former British Telecom telephone exchange, converted into luxury flats by Foster + Partners for the Candy brothers. ^[3]
• 25 Chesham Place, former home of Sir Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax.
• 27 Chesham Place, former home of the Marquess of Waterford.
• 28 Chesham Place, former home of the Conservative MP Malcolm St Clair.
• 36 Chesham Place, site of Mrs Thatcher’s office after leaving Downing Street. ^[4]
• 37 Chesham Place, former home of the Duke of Bedford. A blue plaque marks it as the former home of the first Earl Russell 1792-1878.

38 Chesham Place is the Embassy of Finland. A Grade II listed building, it was previously known as Belgrave House and Herbert House. Former residents include:

• Major General James Ahmuty
• William Russell
• Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert of Lea, widow of Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea died at Herbert House in 1911
• Aldred Lumley, 10th Earl of Scarbrough
• Irwin Boyle Laughlin (Born 26, 1871– Died 8, 1941) secretary of the American Embassy in London (1912 – 1917) and Counselor (1916 – 1919).
• Gustavus William Hamilton-Russell, 9th Viscount Boyne.

The British Red Cross and St John's War Organisation used the house during World War II (1939 – 1945) and then the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship leased 38 Chesham Place until 1975 when it became the Embassy of Finland.^[5]

• 39 Chesham Place is the Embassy of Spain

The entrance to the Embassy of Germany in Belgrave Square fronts on to Chesham Place.

Chesham House was the home of the Russian Embassy from the 1870s until the formation of the USSR in May 1927. ^[6]

References