Lansdowne House

Lansdowne House
The house before its eastern front rooms were demolished
Location within Central London
General information
Architectural style	Neo-classical
Location	9 Fitzmaurice Place London, W1
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′30″N 0°8′44″W / 51.50833°N 0.14556°W / 51.50833; -0.14556
Client	John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute; William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Robert Adam
Website
Official website
Invalid designation
Reference no.	1066795

Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of an aristocratic English town house building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England.^[a] The initial name was for two decades Shelburne House, then its title matched its owning family's elevation to a higher peerage in 1784. In the mid to late 19th century, it was frequently let, as a whole, to families of very high wealth or income, such as Lord Rosebery and Hannah de Rothschild of Mentmore Towers from 1878 to 1890.^[1] Some of its 18th-century interiors, among the best in London, were taken elsewhere. It was at different times leased by three 19th century British prime ministers, and William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor of Cliveden House, widely believed to be the richest man in America at the time of his tenancy (1891–1893) and also by Harry Gordon Selfridge in the 1920s. Landsdowne's heirs sold the property in 1929, two years after the death of the 5th Marquess, a prominent government frontbencher (cabinet minister).

The local authority had built an approach road in 1931 which saw the loss of approximately half of the rooms of its greater wing;^[b] it is today one of two buildings which open onto Fitzmaurice Place but is known as 9 Fitzmaurice Place.^[c] The surviving extent was granted Grade II* Listed Building status in 1970.^[2] The house was also the inspiration for Bingham House in Montreal, built by Lord Shelburne's great friend William Bingham in 1821, who was then the wealthiest man in North America and an associate of Alexander Hamilton.^[3][4]

Notable guests have included Benjamin Franklin, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and the Comte de Mirabeau, among others.^[5]

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