4 Hamilton Place
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4 Hamilton Place is a Grade-II-listed building in
Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
, London. It is used as a conference centre and wedding venue, located on the north-east edge of
Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to a major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was originally planned by architect Decimus Burton. The juncti ...
, with the nearest access being Hyde Park Corner Underground station. Since 1939 it has been the headquarters of the
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...
. The venue is also part of the Westminster Collection, a selection of Westminster's finest venues.


History

The first reference to the short street now known as Hamilton Place appears in the latter half of the 17th century. On the
restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state. This may refer to: *Conservation and restoration of cultural property **Audio restoration **Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property **Film restoration ** Image ...
in 1660, Charles II granted James Hamilton, a ranger of Hyde Park and later groom of the bedchamber, a corner of land which had been excluded from Hyde Park when it was walled. A street bearing Hamilton's name (which eventually became Hamilton Place) was constructed from
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
to the park wall but the houses on it were small with none of the elegance which later came to be associated with the area. Towards the end of the 18th century, by which time Hamilton's lease had been acquired by others, the houses in Hamilton Street were said to be "in a ruinous condition and intended to be removed". They were replaced by a row of houses with a view over the park. Plans were then produced to build three new houses on Piccadilly to make a symmetrical group. Those surviving (141–144 Piccadilly) were demolished in the early 1970s, at the same time as 2–3 Hamilton place, to build the hotel
InterContinental InterContinental Hotels & Resorts by IHG is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe. It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998. As of January 2023, there were 208 InterC ...
. The architect
Thomas Leverton Thomas Leverton (c.1743 – 23 September 1824) was an English architect. Life He was born in Waltham Abbey (town), Waltham Abbey, Essex, where he was baptised on 11 June 1743, the son of the builder Lancelot Leverton. Having learned his father' ...
(who also planned some of
Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many disti ...
) was mentioned as a surveyor to the Hamilton Place scheme and he is referred to as the builder "acting on his own plans." Documentary evidence shows that Leverton designed 4 Hamilton Place in 1807 for his client, the 2nd Earl of Lucan, who took up the lease in 1810. A later resident was the
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
, who rented the property in 1814 before moving to
Apsley House Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing towards the large traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It ...
. Later Lord Granville became the tenant in 1822. Until the end of the 19th century, the house was occupied by a succession of bankers, the last of whom was the then
Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...
, Lord Northbrook, previously Thomas George Baring. Lord Northbrook owned many paintings by notable artists that he housed in the Baring Gallery at No. 4 Hamilton Place. The last private owner of 4 Hamilton Place was Mr
Leopold Albu Leopold Albu (1860–1937) was a gold magnate. He was born in Berlin, Prussia. He arrived in South Africa in 1875 and settled in Kimberley, Northern Cape with his brother George. In 1891, he moved to Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu l ...
(1861–1938). Born on 10 March 1861, he was the son of Simon Albu and Fanny Sternberg, a German Jewish family originally based at
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
. In 1876 Leopold and his elder brother George  – later Sir George Albu (1857–1935) – emigrated to South Africa where they became one of South Africa's original "
Randlord The Randlords () were the capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa from the 1870s to the First World War. A small number of European financiers, largely of the same generation, gained control of the diamon ...
" dynasties. After some time in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, they moved to the diamond-fields of
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
, accumulated financial interests, and sold out to
De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
at a substantial profit. George Albu subsequently purchased the ailing Meyer and Charlton Mine, restructured it and, on 30 December 1895, he and his brother Leopold established General Mining and Finance Corporation — changing the name of their firm from G&L Albu — one of the original companies that led to the
Gencor Gencor Ltd. was a South African based mining company. It was formed in 1980 after the merger of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and the Union Corporation. Parts of the company are now owned by Gold Fields, South 32 and BHP. History Gen ...
consortium that survives. Leopold Albu married Adelaide Veronica Elizabeth Burton, daughter of Edgar Henry Burton, on 19 August 1901, at
St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...
, as by this time Albu was a well-known millionaire. However, the marriage ended acrimoniously — news of the divorce petition even being reported on in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' on 9 February 1915.


Royal Aeronautical Society Headquarters

In 1903, Leopold Albu, managing director of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and chairman of the Phoenix Oil and Transport Company, was granted a new 63-year lease on the property on condition that he spent at least £20,000 on improvements. Instead he chose to rebuild altogether, erecting on the site a new house at a cost exceeding £50,000. His architect was A. N. Prentice and the work was completed in 1907. The design closely followed that of the adjacent house. All the rooms were decorated in the
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
style associated with the Ritz Hotel of 1906. Much of this survives intact though, as was fashionable in the 1930s, some of the gilding visible in the drawing room which became the Argyll Room was overpainted with cream, of which much remains. Following Mr Albu's death on 19 March 1938 aged 77, a series of auction sales at
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
and elsewhere appear to have been held in which the paintings, furnishings etc. of his house at 4 Hamilton Place were sold. In March 1939 the
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...
moved into No. 4 Hamilton Place. Some minor alterations were required but these were kept to a minimum. Mr Albu's dining room on the ground floor became the society's Council Room.The New Home of the RAeS, ''Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society'', July 1939, Vol 43, No 343. During the Second World War staff remained on the premises, but many archives and records were removed to safety. The house suffered blast damage on seven occasions. In 1957 the reconstruction of Hyde Park Corner and the chance to purchase land from No. 5 gave the opportunity to build on the No. 4 Hamilton Place's garden, which, until then had adjoined the park so that access problems would have been almost insuperable. The remainder of properties on the street aside from these two were demolished. A successful appeal by the president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Sir Arnold Hall, raised most of the money for a lecture theatre, which was opened in December 1960."4 Hamilton Place, London: The Home of the Royal Aeronautical Society", a leaflet. RAeS, 1966. At the same time the opportunity was taken to add a fifth floor to the top of the house to provide additional office space. Alterations were made to the fourth floor, which had been servants' bedrooms in Mr Albu's time, to provide a housekeeper's flat and better office accommodation, and the lease was extended to 2004. This was subsequently extended to 2059. During 2003 the lecture theatre was refurbished and re-equipped following a donation from the
Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
and officially reopened as the
Bill Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer. He founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which was renamed to Boeing a year later. The company is now the largest exporter in the United ...
Lecture Theatre by
Phil Condit Philip Murray Condit (born August 2, 1941) is an American engineer and businessman who was Chair and Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Boeing company from 1996 to 2003. He dramatically reshaped the company by its merger with McDonnell Douglas ...
, then chairman and CEO of the Boeing Company, on 10 November 2003. In 1987 the library was removed from the first floor to the third, and Mr Albu's magnificent drawing room is now used for formal dinners, buffet parties and other similar functions. It is known as the Argyll Room in honour of the society's first president, the Duke of Argyll. In the following years other rooms were named, mainly after British aviation pioneers. During 2006 the basement area under the lecture theatre, which for many years had been used as an overflow book and journal store for the library, was cleared and completely refurbished following generous sponsorship by
Airbus UK Airbus UK (formerly EADS UK) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, based in the United Kingdom, which produces wings for Airbus aircraft. When Airbus (at the time known as EADS) was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001, BAE Systems t ...
, to create the Airbus Business Suite consisting of three meeting rooms and a members' area with computer access and flat-screen TV. This was officially opened by Iain Gray, then managing director of Airbus UK, on 18 July. In 2008, a final basement storeroom within the Airbus Business Suite was converted into the
de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...
Room. On 31 March 2009 the Royal Aeronautical Society completed the purchase of the
freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...
of No. 4 Hamilton Place from the
Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
, thereby safeguarding its headquarters for future generations of aeronautical engineers.


In popular culture

No. 4 Hamilton Place was used as the Embassy Club in the Christmas special 2013, of ITV's series ''
Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...
''. As part of the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
Heads of Government Meeting in 2018,
Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...
and
Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...
attended a Women's Empowerment reception, hosted by Foreign Secretary
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
, at 4 Hamilton Place.


References

{{coord, 51.5044, -0.1504, display=title Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II listed houses in London Houses in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures in Mayfair Headquarters in the United Kingdom