Visit Programme in Westminster and St. James

Saturday 23 June 2001

A group of 35 turned out and we started at 8 Little College Street built in 1911 for The Hon. Francis MacLaren and now Carlton Hobbs, the antiques dealers, who have even reinstated Sir Edwin’s black walls in the first floor library which show how such a background can showcase good quality pieces of furniture. After a quick exterior comparison with Sir Edwin’s pupil’s work, the 1931 Gayfere and North Street houses by Oliver Hill, we walked past Sir Edwin’s St. John’s Institute of 1898-1905 and moved on to Queen Anne’s Gate. By kind permission of Burlington Slate, Tarquin, and Metro Consulting we visited two buildings which were Edward Hudson’s townhouse and Sir Edwin’s office from 1910-31, now joined. Surprisingly little existed in Sir Edwin’s old office but by contrast Edward Hudson’s house was full of Lutyens’s work, easily identifiable from old photographs. The dining room has the most striking designs by Sir Edwin where an apse was created for a regency sideboard and the fireplace was fused with the overmantel in a free working of an eighteenth century style. After refreshments kindly provided by Burlington Slate, we went on to 68 Pall Mall of 1928 where by kind permission of Kilpatrick and Stockon we visited the fourth floor. Although traditionally only the exterior is ascribed to Sir Edwin, there was some very interesting interior work on his floor but it us undocumented. After quickly admiring the façade, surely one of his best classical games ever, we moved on to our final building, 7 St James’s Square built in 1911 for the Farrer Brothers. As at the Salutation, the library dominates the floor plan, taking a huge double height space at the back of the house on the first floor above the dining room, and Butler points out that the pantry alone is larger than the average sitting room in the 1950s. As it was such a hot day and the quality of the buildings so good, it was felt that four visits were quite enough and although there were more buildings by Sir Edwin on the route, they could wait for another tour next year.

PW