Burlington House

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VINTAGE CABINET PLATE CRIES OF LONDON BLACK CHERRIES
30 Jun 2010 at 5:00am
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English Walnut Bracket/Mantel Clock James Powell London
30 Jun 2010 at 8:12am
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Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of Piccadilly with this look at Burlington House:

There are various other public buildings of more or less interest before we come to Burlington House. No less than three mansions stood here in the times of the later Stuarts. These belonged to Lord Chancellor Clarendon and Lords Berkeley and Burlington, of which the latter name has alone survived.

The third Earl was an architect, and added several embellishments to his mansion, including a stone frontage and a colonnade taken down in 1868.

Handel was a guest at Burlington House for three years from 1715. After the death of Lord Burlington in 1753 the title became extinct. Among the memorable scenes witnessed by the house was a brilliant ball and fête, given by the members of White's Club to the allied Sovereigns in 1814.

Lord George Cavendish, who bought the house in 1815, considerably altered the interior of the building, and built the Burlington Arcade in 1819. He was afterwards created Earl of Burlington. In 1854 Government bought the house and garden. The University of London, now in Burlington Gardens, temporarily occupied the building, and the societies occupying Somerset House were offered quarters in Burlington House. In 1866 the mansion was leased to the Royal Academy, and fundamental changes began.

On the east side of Burlington House are the Geographical Society and Chemical Society, and on the west the Linnean Society. In the courtyard, the Royal Society is in the east wing, and the Royal Astronomical and the Society of Antiquaries in the western.

On the site of the Albany, now fashionable "chambers" for unmarried men, were formerly three houses united into one by Lord Sunderland, the third Earl, chiefly remembered for his magnificent library, which, when the earldom of Sunderland was merged in the dukedom of Marlborough in 1733, formed the nucleus of the Blenheim Library.

The brother of the great Fox held the house for a short time, and from him it passed to Lord Melbourne, to whom its rebuilding was due. The architect was Sir W. Chambers, and the ceilings decorated by Cipriani, Rebecca, and Wheatley. It was from the Duke of York and Albany, uncle of George III, that the name is derived. However, he did not live here long.

Next: Piccadilly: Jermyn Street