Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

district of

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 ...

. Most of it is

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a Lease, lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title (property), title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold right ...

, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the

Grosvenor Estate Grosvenor Group Limited is an internationally diversified property group, which traces its origins to 1677 and has its headquarters in London, England. Previously (from 1841) based at 66-68 Brook Street & 53 Davies Street, it is now based at 7 ...

. Named after the

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

that it crossed,Survey of London, Volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), 1980, ed. F. H. W. Sheppard, p. 210-221 it was developed in the first half of the 18th century and runs from Hanover Square to

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

. The western continuation (to

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park to ...

) is called Upper Brook Street; its west end faces Brook Street Gate of Hyde Park. Both sections consisted of neo-classical

terraced houses A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

, mostly built to individual designs. Some of them were very ornate, finely stuccoed and tall-ceilinged, designed by well known architects for wealthy tenants, especially near Grosvenor Square, others exposed good quality brickwork or bore fewer expensive window openings and embellishments. Some of both types survive. Others have been replaced by buildings from later periods. Opulent hotel

Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotels, 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street, London, Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. The hotel is owned and managed by the Maybourne Hotel Group. History Founding Claridge's traces its origins to ...

co-fronts two other streets and takes the majority of a block. The Embassy of Argentina is at No. 65. The

Handel & Hendrix in London Handel Hendrix House (previously Handel & Hendrix in London) is a museum in Mayfair, London, dedicated to the lives and works of the German-born British baroque composer George Frideric Handel and the American rock singer-guitarist Jimi Hendrix, ...

occupies Nos. 23–25, once homes of famous musicians

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

. The baroque chamber music ensemble The Brook Street Band takes its name from No. 25 where Handel lived from 1723 to 1759. The French restaurant

Le Gavroche Le Gavroche (''The Urchin'') was a restaurant at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, London. It was opened in April 1967 by Michel and Albert Roux at 61 Lower Sloane Street, its premises until 1981. Albert's son Michel Roux Jr was the chef pat ...

was housed on the primary floors of No.43 Upper Brook Street, before its closure in January 2024.

Former residents

Sursock family

The

Sursock family The Sursock family (also spelled Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon, and used to be one of the most important families of Beirut. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has lived in Bei ...

opened their first office in Europe, at No. 31, in 1858, from which they directed commercial networks, exposing land-holdings across the eastern Mediterranean to development capital of European markets (of joint-stock equity and of credit).

Others

;Brook Street * 20:

Gerard Vandergucht Gerard Vandergucht (or van der Gucht) (1696 or 1697 – 18 March 1776) was an English engraver and art dealer. Biography Vandergucht, was born in London, the elder son of the Flemish engraver Michael Vandergucht. He was taught engraving by hi ...

, engraver and art dealer. His son,

Benjamin Vandergucht Benjamin Vandergucht or Van der Gucht (1753–1794) was a picture-dealer, restorer and painter. Life He was the thirty-second child of Gerard Vandergucht the engraver, and one of twins. He studied drawing in St Martin's Lane Academy, and on the ...

, was born here in 1753. * 23:

, guitarist * 25:

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, composer * 39: Sir

Jeffry Wyatville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville ...

, architect * 39:

Sibyl, Lady Colefax Sibyl Sophie Julia, Lady Colefax (''née'' Halsey; 1874 – 22 September 1950) was an English interior decorator and socialite in the first half of the twentieth century. Biography Colefax was born at Wimbledon, third but only surviving daughte ...

and John Fowler, interior decorator and interior designer * 54:

Valentine Ackland Valentine Ackland (born Mary Kathleen Macrory Ackland; 20 May 1906 – 9 November 1969) was an English poet, and life partner of novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner. Their relationship was strained by Ackland’s infidelities and alcoholism, but s ...

, poet, was born here.Brown, Susan, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy, eds. Valentine Ackland entry: Life screen within ''Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Online, 2006. http://orlando.cambridge.org/. 27 November 2018. * 67: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians, better known as the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

* 72: Sir Henry Holland, physician and travel writer, lived and died here. * 74:

Sir William Gull Sir William Withey Gull, 1st Baronet (31 December 181629 January 1890) was an English physician. Of modest family origins, he established a lucrative private practice and served as Governor of Guy's Hospital, Fullerian Professor of Physiology a ...

, Royal physician * 74:

Robert Bentley Todd Robert Bentley Todd (9 April 1809 – 30 January 1860) was an Irish-born physician who is best known for describing the condition postictal paralysis in his Lumleian Lectures in 1849 now known as Todd's palsy. Early life The son of physici ...

, physician * 76:

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...

, architect * 78:

Ronald Firbank Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with referen ...

, novelist ;Upper Brook Street * 1:

Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish mechanical engineer and inventor who designed the modern steam turbine in 1884. His invention revolutionised marine propulsion, and he was also the founder of C ...

, Anglo-Irish engineer and inventor of the compound

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

* 3: Sir Lucas Pepys, physician to King George III and Jane Elizabeth Leslie, 12th Countess of Rothes * 4: Piero Malacrida de Saint-August,

Nadja Malacrida Louisa, Marchesa Malacrida de Saint-August (''née'' Louisa Nadia Green, 15 June 1895 – 3 October 1934), known by the pen names Nadja Malacrida and Nadja, was an English writer, radio broadcaster, racing driver, and socialite. A novelist, p ...

, and Sir Thomas Fuller-Elliott-Drake. * 18:

Anne Seymour Damer Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828) was an English sculptor. Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment, D ...

, sculptor, died here, 1828. * 22:

Leo Bonn Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to: * Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky * Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac * Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually masc ...

, founder of what became the

Royal National Institute for Deaf People The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organisation working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are Deafness, deaf or have hearing loss. History The Royal ...

* 24: Richard Bull, MP and art collector (1755–74), Sydney Ernest Kennedy, stockbroker and art collector (1891–1921) * 27:

William Gerard Hamilton William Gerard Hamilton (28 January 172916 July 1796), was an English statesman and Irish politician, popularly known as "Single Speech Hamilton". Biography He was born in London, the son of William Hamilton, a Scottish bencher of Lincoln's In ...

, statesman, died here, 1796. * 28:

Topham Beauclerk Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated English wit and a friend of Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole. Early life Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739 in Pall Mall, London. He was the only son of Lord ...

, wit, lived here as a young child, 1745 to 1753. * 35:

William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt, (15 April 1885 – 16 August 1957) was a British Liberal Party, National Labour and then Labour Party politician and lawyer who served as Lord Chancellor under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951. Backg ...

, lawyer and politician (the interior received mosaics by

Boris Anrep Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (; – 7 June 1969) was a Russian artist, active in Britain, who devoted himself to the art of mosaic. In Britain, he is known for his monumental mosaics at the National Gallery, London, Westminster Cathedral and the ...

in 1923). * 40:

Edward Hughes Ball Hughes Edward Hughes Ball Hughes (28 May 1798 – 10 March 1863), also known as "The Golden Ball", was an English dandy known for his extravagant lifestyle. Life Hughes was born in Lambourne, Essex, and was educated at Eton College, Eton and Trinity C ...

, Regency dandy * 42:

Frederic Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar (22 November 1873 — 21 August 1954), Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, styled the Honourable Frederic Morgan between 1913 and 1949, was a Welsh Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer and Land tenure ...

, (1949-1954) Welsh peer and landowner who died at No. 42 in 1954. * 51:

Giorgos Seferis Giorgos or George Seferis (; ), the pen name of Georgios Seferiadis (Γεώργιος Σεφεριάδης; March 13 – September 20, 1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and ...

, Greek Ambassador, poet and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

* 56:

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...

, economist

Notes and references

;Footnotes ;Citations

External links

Brook Street
– detailed architectural history of Brook Street from the ''

Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...

''
Upper Brook Street
– detailed architectural history of Upper Brook Street from the ''

'' {{coord, 51.5129, -0.1471, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Mayfair Streets in the City of Westminster