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33-732: Berkeley Square / ˈ b ɑːr k l i / is a garden square in the West End of London . It is one of the best known of the many squares in London , located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster . It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent , and originally extended further south. The garden's very large London Plane trees are among the oldest in central London , planted in 1789. Like most squares in British cities, it

66-748: A modified form at the front of the reduced house; about half of the north-west corner has also been lost. On 1 May 1935, the Lansdowne Club opened as a 'social, residential and athletic Club for members of social standing...'. It comprises the remaining 18th-century rooms plus a large 1930s extension in the Art Deco style. Many works of art, such as the Lansdowne Amazon and the Lansdowne Hercules , were also bought by American and British museums. The Lansdowne Hermes resides at

99-809: A public private partnership between the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fitler Square Improvement Association. In Boston tens of squares exist, some having a mainly residential use. The Kingstowne development in Fairfax County, Virginia , near Washington, DC , contains several townhouse complexes built around garden squares. In Africa, garden squares are rare. Many squares and parks in Africa were constructed during colonial rule, along with European-styled architecture. A well-known square like this in Africa

132-414: Is Greenmarket Square , in the center of Cape Town , which previously hosted more townhouses at its edges but has been mostly paved over. Garden Squares generally do not occur throughout Asia. Parks usually occupy the need for urban green spaces, while historic and modern gardens exist as attractions, not central communal spaces. 9 Fitzmaurice Place Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place

165-411: Is designed for the amenity of surrounding residents, it is subtly distinguished from a town square designed to be a public gathering place: due to its inherent private history, it may have a pattern of dedicated footpaths and tends to have considerably more plants than hard surfaces or large monuments. At their conception in the early 17th century, each such garden was a private communal amenity for

198-486: Is famous for them; they are described as one of the glories of the capital. Many were built or rebuilt during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, at the height of Georgian architecture , and are surrounded by townhouses . Large projects, such as the Bedford Estate , included garden squares in their development. The Notting Hill and Bloomsbury neighbourhoods both have many garden squares, with

231-539: Is surrounded largely by terraced houses , in this case grand townhouses . Originally these were the London residences of very wealthy families who would spend most of the year at their country house . Only one building, number 48, remains wholly residential. Most have been converted into offices for businesses typical of Mayfair, such as bluechips ' meeting spaces, hedge funds , niche headhunters and wealth management businesses. The buildings' architects included Robert Adam but 9 Fitzmaurice Place (since 1935 home of

264-514: Is the remaining part of an aristocratic English town house building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England. The initial name was for two decades Shelburne House, then its title matched its owning family's elevation to a higher peerage in 1784. In the mid to late 19th century, it was frequently let, as a whole, to families of very high wealth or income, such as Lord Rosebery and Hannah de Rothschild of Mentmore Towers from 1878 to 1890. Some of its 18th-century interiors, among

297-403: The 5th Marquess , a prominent government frontbencher (cabinet minister) . The local authority had built an approach road in 1931 which saw the loss of approximately half of the rooms of its greater wing; it is today one of two buildings which open onto Fitzmaurice Place but is known as 9 Fitzmaurice Place. The surviving extent was granted Grade II* Listed Building status in 1970. The house

330-572: The Lansdowne Club , earlier known as Shelb(o)urne then Lansdowne House — all three names referring to the same branch of one family) is now on the south corner's approach ("Fitzmaurice Place"). The daring staircase-hall of No.44 is sometimes considered William Kent 's masterpiece. Gunter's Tea Shop , founded under a different name in 1757, used to trade here. Approach ways include Berkeley Street, Curzon Street , and Hill Street . The gardens of Berkeley Square are Grade II listed (are in

363-810: The Place de la République . The enclosed garden terraces ( French: jardins terrasses ) and courtyards ( French: cours ) of some French former palaces have resulted in redevelopments into spaces equivalent to garden squares. The same former single-owner scenario applies to at least one garden square in London ( Coleridge Square ). Grandiose instances of garden-use town squares are a part of many French cities, others opt for solid material town squares. The Square de Meeûs and Square Orban are notable examples in Brussels. Dublin has several Georgian examples, including Merrion Square , Fitzwilliam Square , Mountjoy Square , St Stephens Green and Parnell Square . Perhaps

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396-746: The 1930s, the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster Council decided to build a road from Berkeley Square to Curzon Street , which required the demolition of all the garden front rooms of Lansdowne House. One of Adam's three drawing rooms was removed and installed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art , while the Dining Room went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The façade was rebuilt in

429-597: The 19th century, with notable exceptions below. Rittenhouse Square in the Center City, Philadelphia encases a public garden, one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century. It was first named Southwest Square. Nearby Fitler Square is a similar garden square named for late 19th century Philadelphia mayor Edwin Henry Fitler shortly after his death in 1896. The Square, cared for through

462-539: The International Wine and Food Society which may meet here and The Junior League of London. It was designed by Robert Adam as a house for John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute but in 1763 he sold it (one year into its building) to William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (both men became Prime Minister ); the structure was finished in 1768. Adam commissioned the local sculptor Thomas Carter the Younger to carve

495-599: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. Other objects moved to Bowood House , the Lansdowne country house, where Adam had also worked, which remains in the family, though large parts of it were demolished in 1956. A large office block, 57 Berkeley Square, with classical fronts and surrounding roads, occupies what was the garden. This still uses as line of its address the name of the old house. What

528-532: The Square's article. In 2022, Blackstone finalized an agreement to redevelop Lansdowne House (the namesake office block at 57 Berkeley Square, opposite the Lansdowne Club; see dispersal of name below) as its European headquarters. Prime Minister Liz Truss called the agreement "a resounding vote of confidence in the United Kingdom as Europe’s leading financial centre." Owner, resident:- Tenants:- In

561-461: The best in London, were taken elsewhere. It was at different times leased by three 19th century British prime ministers , and William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor of Cliveden House , widely believed to be the richest man in America at the time of his tenancy (1891–1893) and also by Harry Gordon Selfridge in the 1920s. Landsdowne's heirs sold the property in 1929, two years after the death of

594-520: The chimney-pieces of his design. Shelburne retained Adam until 1771, when his wife died, with parts of the decoration still incomplete. George Dance the Younger (in the 1790s of George III's reign) and Robert Smirke (at the end of his associated Regency) worked on the house. From 1763 to 1929, it belonged to the seniormost branch of the Petty-FitzMaurice family, elevated from 1784 to a high peerage, as Marquesses of Lansdowne . In 1931,

627-744: The elements which made a gay and splendid social circle in close relation to the business of Parliament, the hierarchies of the Army and Navy, and the policy of the State". Its front private garden exceeded its building's footprint but was subject to another's restrictive covenants . Its main front lay further forward and was a garden front to this green expanse (between Berkeley Square and Devonshire House's gardens). This conservation guaranteed for Devonshire House on Piccadilly open aspects (greenery-covered land save for discreet fences/railings) up to and including all of Berkeley Square . These reasons are set out in

660-472: The former mostly still restricted to residents, and the latter open to all. Other UK cities prominent in the Georgian era such as Edinburgh , Bath , Bristol and Leeds have several garden squares. Householders with access to a private garden square are commonly required to pay a maintenance levy. Normally the charge is set annually by a garden committee. Sometimes private garden squares are opened to

693-490: The house, in compensation seeing its extension built to the south-west, saw half of its greater original wing, the east wing, demolished to allow the street Fitzmaurice Place to be built. Since 1935, the residue accommodates the Lansdowne Club . Winston Churchill commented that in Victorian and Edwardian London, "glittering parties at Lansdowne House, Devonshire House or Stafford House ( Lancaster House ) comprised all

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726-441: The house, so preserving the view from the rear of the ducal residence. The southernmost portion saw either a breach and passage of 20 years without claim ( the limitation period of deeds ) or a release of covenant agreement struck up – it was until about 1930 legally required green space, namely gardens of 9 Fitzmaurice Place . They became the new south side of the square. Residents have included: At Lansdowne House , formerly on

759-723: The initial category) on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens . They are plain from the horticultural point of view, with grass and paths, but dominated by a group of London Plane trees around the gardens, planted in 1789, the year of the French Revolution . In 2008, one of the trees was said to be the "most valuable street tree in Britain" by the London Tree Officers Association, in terms of its size, health, historical significance and

792-603: The most famous garden square in the United States is Gramercy Park in southern Midtown Manhattan . Famously, it has remained private and gated throughout its existence; possession of a key to the park is a jealously guarded privilege that only certain local residents enjoy. The tradition of fee simple land ownership in American cities has made collective amenities such as garden squares comparatively rare. Very few sub-dividers and developers included them in plats during

825-443: The number of people who live near to it. One in the south-west corner is a Great Tree of London . The square features a sculptural fountain by Alexander Munro , a Pre-Raphaelite sculptor , made in 1865. The fountain was donated by the third Marquess of Lansdowne , and replaced a statue of George II which was removed in 1827. On the eastern side is a bronze sculpture of Velasquez' Reina Mariana by Manolo Valdes . The square

858-616: The outset, is the Square René Viviani . Gardens substantially cover a few of the famous Places in the capital; instead, the majority are paved and replete with profoundly hard materials such as Place de la Concorde . Inspired by ecological interests and a 21st-century focus on pollution mitigation, an increasing number of the Places in Paris today many have a focal tree or surrounding raised flower beds/and or rows of trees such as

891-471: The public, such as during Open Garden Squares Weekend. Privately owned squares which survived the decades after the French Revolution and 19th century Haussmann's renovation of Paris include the Place des Vosges and Square des Épinettes in Paris. The Place des Vosges was a fashionable and expensive square to live in during the 17th and 18th centuries, and one of the central reasons that Le Marais district became so fashionable for French nobility. It

924-525: The public. Those in central urban locations, such as Leicester Square in London's West End, have become indistinguishable from town squares. Others, while publicly accessible, are largely used by local residents and retain the character of garden squares or small communal parks. Many private squares, even in busy locations, remain private, such as Portman Square in Marylebone in London, despite its proximity to London's busiest shopping districts. London

957-467: The residents of the overlooking houses akin to a garden courtyard within a palace or community. Such community courtyards date back to at least Ur in 2000 BC where two-storey houses were built of fired brick around an open square. Kitchen , working, and public spaces were located on the ground floor, with private rooms located upstairs. In the 20th century, many garden squares that were previously accessible only to defined residents became accessible to

990-457: The square: Berkeley Square is a typical prime Central London distance from:- London Buses route 22 passes through the square. Berkeley Square hosts vehicle charging points supplied by Elektromotive . 51°30′35″N 0°8′45″W  /  51.50972°N 0.14583°W  / 51.50972; -0.14583 Garden square The archetypal garden square is surrounded by tall terraced houses and other types of townhouse . Because it

1023-671: Was also the inspiration for Bingham House in Montreal, built by Lord Shelburne 's great friend William Bingham in 1821, who was then the wealthiest man in North America and an associate of Alexander Hamilton . Notable guests have included Benjamin Franklin , Oscar Wilde , Henry James , and the Comte de Mirabeau , among others. It houses the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair . It co-serves as an address of Fitzmaurice House Ltd,

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1056-481: Was inaugurated in 1612 with a grand carrousel to celebrate the engagement of Louis XIII to Anne of Austria and is a prototype of the residential squares of European cities that were to come. What was new about the Place Royale as it was known in 1612 was that the house fronts were all built to the same design, probably by Baptiste du Cerceau . In town squares, similarly green but publicly accessible from

1089-580: Was originally the bottom of the large garden of Berkeley House on Piccadilly , subsequently Devonshire House . In 1696, John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton , sold the house and much of the garden to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire , but retained a significant area at the bottom, including the site of Berkeley Square. The square is among those that demonstrate non-waiver of (no later agreement to forego) restrictive covenants . In 1696, with express intent to bind later owners, Berkeley undertook not to build on land retained very directly behind

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