In London, Windsor, Hampstead, and elsewhere, we found lots of Number Ones to complement our favorite, Apsley House! Which as our faithful readers will know, is the London home of the Dukes of Wellington, and the Wellington Museum housing a distinguished art collection as well as the many awards presented to the first Duke for his leadership of the Allied defeat of Napoleon in 1815.
From the English Heritage website: “Apsley House was originally designed and built between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Chancellor Henry, 1st Baron Apsley (later 2nd Earl Bathurst), by the fashionable architect Robert Adam (1728–92). The site chosen was on Piccadilly, at the formal entrance to Hyde Park, which was Crown land. Bathurst negotiated the lease of land from the Crown in order to build his new house. Apsley was the first house on the north side of Piccadilly, located opposite a turnpike with toll houses, and consequently it became known as ‘Number 1, London’. Its correct postal address is now 149 Piccadilly.
The original house was a five-bay red brick building, with a spacious entrance hall and central colonnaded oval staircase. Adam had to design the house to respect the existing stable block on the eastern side, which contributed to its irregular floor plan. Adam completed the building and furnishing of the house at a cost of £10,000. The structure of this house survives underneath the later stone encasement and extensions.”
Here are some of our Number One Discoveries…in no particular order…
Well, I am glad your blog is called Number One London instead of 149 Picadilly!
LOL Denise!