Grosvenor House
A visit to the West End would be incomplete without marvelling at some of the magnificent mansions of the British aristocracy. Many of this country’s elite have settled on Park Lane, one of the most fashionable roads in all of the capital. Here the visitor will find formidable houses such as Somerset House, Londonderry House, Dorchester House, Brook House, or Dudley House. Among these town residences, Grosvenor House deserves particular mention. It is one of the most spectacular townhouses in the city, both in terms of size and beauty.
Grosvenor House has been the home of the Grosvenor family for nearly a century and has been expanded, refurbished, and modernised on several occasions during this period; in the latest of these improvements by the Duke of Westminster*, electricity was introduced to the house, making it one of the first buildings in London to use electric light.
It is often claimed that no country in all of Europe can boast of such formidable private galleries as England, and indeed no capital as London. Perhaps the finest of these privately-owned galleries is that of the Grosvenor family, only rivalled by the royal collection. It is especially rich in the works of the great painters of the Dutch and Flemish schools of the seventeenth century, particularly in works of Rembrandt, although works by Gainsborough and Velázquez can also be admired in the gallery. The Duke of Westminster is regarded to be not only the most honourable, but also the wealthiest nobleman of the age, and, luckily, he does also prove to possess excellent taste, demonstrated by the high quality of his art collection as well as his exquisite home.
*Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster.
Access to the gallery might be obtained by special application or a personal introduction.
More about aristocratic presence in the capital can be found in Society & the Season.
Grosvenor House in the past and Now
Some of the magnificent Rooms of Grosvenor House
Grosvenor House was in the family’s possession until the First World War. The 2nd Duke of Westminster vacated the residence in 1916, when the government requisitioned it. Many aristocratic families at that time found the upkeep of multiple residences financially straining and thus disposed of some of them – in many cases their expensive London homes which generated little or no revenue. Grosvenor House became the headquarters of the Ministry of Food for the rest of the war. In 1924, the industrialist William Lever, 1st Viscount of Leverhulme purchased Grosvenor House, only for it to be demolished after his death the following year. Shops, flats, and a hotel – the Grosvenor House Hotel – were constructed on the site.
