Athenaeum Club

Smoking had been strictly forbidden in the club, except in rooms designated for the purpose, until in 1924 it was allowed after 1.30 pm in the drawing room and in 1928 throughout the club, except in the coffee room (as the main dining room is still designated) and the south library. In 1927/28 a fourth storey was built to provide bedrooms for members and the third floor, which had previously held staff bedrooms, was adapted to provide members' bedrooms. At the same time a large part of the third floor smoking room was converted into bedrooms and a washroom. In 1936 the club took a lease of 6 Carlton Gardens, once Gladstone's house, as a ladies' annexe with a dining room and drawing room…

Decimus Burton was commissioned to design the clubhouse at 107 Pall Mall, at the corner of Waterloo Place. Despite his young age, Decimus Burton had already designed many notable buildings in London. Burton's clubhouse is in the Neoclassical style, with a Doric portico with paired columns, and has been described by architectural scholar Guy Williams as "a building of remarkable grace and astonishing novelty" with a central staircase that is "distinctly Egyptian in flavour". Burton made himself responsible for the design of as many of the decorative features of the club as possible, including the clock-cases and the pendant light-fittings. A statue of Demosthenes was first installed there…