An architectural visit of Mayfair Part 2

In the previous post we already have seen how a building can tell a lot about a place, a town, and I hope you have enjoyed the visit, So here is the end of this short summary.

Berkeley square is a lovely part of Mayfair that was  originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent. It was a residential area with now only one residential building building. No need to mention that the price of a residential property in Berkeley Square is more expensive than in the close neighbourhood!

This lovely house, now a club shows the typical qualities of a Georgian house. We can see again the fan above the entrance door, the very tall first floor...

Some of the famous resident of this place included Winston Churchill (number 48, when he was a child), Robert Clive of India (bought no. 45 in 1761 and committed suicide there in 1774), George Canning...

The Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly. This is the first steel framed building built in the UK. It is known as the best hotel in the world thanks to a worldwide renowned chef (Escoffier) and each bedroom includes a bathroom, a walk in wardrobe and a fire. If you look on the roof you will be amazed by the number of chimney pots, the evidence of a fire place per room. The building is made with Portland stone and Norwegian granite.
Swiss hotelier César Ritz, the dismissed former manager of the Savoy Hotel, opened the hotel on 24 May 1906. The building is neoclassical in the Louis XVI manner, built during the Belle epoque to resemble a stylish Parisian block of flats, over arcades that consciously evoked the Rue de Tivoli. Its architects were Charles Mewès, who had previously designed Ritz's Hotel in Paris, and Arthur Davis, with engineering collaboration by the Swedish engineer Sven Bylander.

Then we passed the tailor's street, Savile Row with its number three known thanks to the Beatles as the offices of The Beattles' Apple Corp were at 3 Savile Row; The Beatles, Badfinger, Mary Hopkins and others recorded in the Apple Studios basement.

 The Beatles' final live performance was on the roof, on 30 January 1969. The "Rooftop Concert" concludes the documentary film Let It Be.
There are style many tailors in Savile Row, offering bespoke costumes.

Built in 1879 the Victorian shopping arcade  is smaller than the nearby Burlington Arcade

The Burlington arcade were the first shopping mall in the UK. They were opened in 1819 with originally about 90 shops, of which only about 40 remains now.  The arcade were a safe place to go shopping at that time, as the arcade had their own police force, who were ex soldiers from the Burlington regiment.

The windows of the first floor were at the time occupied by Ladies providing what our guide called "emergency love".
The Royal Academy also known as the Burlington house is the most Palladian building in the area. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government.

Another gem one cab pass without noticing it is Albany house, with all its Georgian characteristics
(http://www.georgianindex.net/albany/Rooms_at_the_Albany.html)

This of course is a very short summary of this very interesting visit. I would encourage anybody interested in the subject to book a tour and enjoy it as much as I have!


Emmanuelle Lemoine