Three centuries of grandeur on Grosvenor Square

In the year 1710, Sir Richard Grosvenor was given a licence to develop the manor of Ebury. This was a five-hundred-acre estate to the west of London, not far from St James’s Palace. The new development centred on a large garden known as Grosvenor Square, which would become the centre of the new neighbourhood of Mayfair.

Development of Grosvenor Square began in 1725 and was finished by 1731. The square consisted of six acres of lawns, laid out by gardener John Alston as a ‘wilderness worke’, meant to give a sense of nature in the city. It was surrounded by four streets of terraces, each one backing onto stables with mews houses.

The grand scale of Grosvenor Square helped to turn Mayfair into London’s most distinguished neighbourhood. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the address was occupied by aristocrats and some of the richest ‘commoners’ in the country. These included politicians and statesmen, philanthropists and patrons of the arts.

Over the years, the square’s Georgian terraces were rebuilt by Victorian occupants, who needed more space for dozens of servants and large social functions. No wonder the address was referenced in the novels of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, as well as the plays of Oscar Wilde, to symbolise upper-class status.

By the early twentieth century, Grosvenor Square was home to several ‘Bentley Boys’ – the wealthy and titled motorists who turned the Bentley into the leading car marque of the twentieth century. They not only hosted all-day parties in their flats but also crowded the streets outside with large, green sports cars.

Surprisingly, for such a sought-after address, much of the architecture dates back to the interwar period or the decades following the Second World War. During this time, the Georgian and Victorian townhouses were mostly replaced with mansion blocks in the neoclassical style. These were impressive structures with stone bases and quoins, as well as large sash windows and mansard roofs.

One example was Macdonald House, constructed in 1936 with an immense pillared facade. Two years later, it became home to the American embassy, and then in 1961 was acquired by the Canadian government as their new High Commission.

Grosvenor Square also hosted the American military headquarters during the Second World War. It was so popular with US diplomats and soldiers that the neighbourhood became known as Little America. This was confirmed when, in 1960, the American embassy moved to a vast Modernist building on the western side of the square.

The embassy was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen. A vast building clad in Portland stone and decorated in anodised aluminium, the façade is topped with a 35-foot-wide aluminium eagle by the American sculptor Theodore Roszak.

No wonder Grosvenor Square was chosen as the most fitting place for London’s memorial to the victims of 9/11, where 67 British people lost their lives, alongside many Americans. By this point, the garden square had been opened to the public, yet despite its enviable location and grand proportions, ‘over time it’s been under-used and under-valued,’ says Heather Topel, director of Grosvenor Property UK.

Recently, the American embassy has relocated to Nine Elms, along with several other diplomatic buildings. This became the perfect opportunity to develop the square, creating a new landmark for central London.

Work has now started to restore the original square’s oval design. It will be complemented by waterfall canopies and wetlands storing rainwater for re-use, along with two play areas and an education building. As well as creating a more welcoming space, the square will hugely increase the biodiversity of the local habitat.

The surrounding buildings are also being upgraded. These include a new members club at No.22 and luxury residences at the former US Navy headquarters and the Canadian High Commission. Most spectacular is the new Chancery Rosewood, which has transformed the former US Embassy into a grand hotel with five restaurants, 137 rooms and a 1,000-capacity ballroom.

The hotel will be opening in September, while the renovation of the square should be finished by 2027. Once complete, Grosvenor will be restored to its rightful place as one of London’s most popular and prestigious addresses.