Lansdowne House

Lansdowne House, now 9 Fitzmaurice Place, is the remaining part of an aristocratic English town house to the south of Berkeley Square in the city of Westminster, England. The initial name was for two decades Shelburne House, before it was changed to match its owner's elevation to a higher peerage, Marquess of Lansdowne, in 1784. In the 19th century, the house was frequently let, as a whole, to men of high wealth or income, such as Lord Rosebery of Mentmore Towers from 1878 to 1890. Some of its 18th-century interiors, among the best in England, were removed and taken elsewhere. It was at different times leased by three 19th century British prime ministers, by 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. In 1929, two years after the death of the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, a prominent government frontbencher, his heir sold the property. 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 house was given Grade II* Listed Building status in 1970. The house 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.