4 Hamilton Place

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 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 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. 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…