Stratford Place
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Stratford Place is a small road in London, off Oxford Street, opposite Bond Street underground station. The road is a cul-de-sac.
Stratford HouseEdit
Stratford House was built as the London town house of the Stratford family between 1770 and 1776 for Edward Stratford, 2nd Earl of Aldborough, who paid £4,000 for the site.<ref name=about>About and History Template:Webarchive at Oriental Club web site (accessed 28 January 2008)</ref> The central range was designed by Robert Adam. It had previously been the location of the Lord Mayor of London's Banqueting House, built in 1565.<ref name=about/> There have been several people of note who stayed there including the sons of the Tzar of Russia, and Clementine Hozier was born there, and the house until 1832 was owned by the Wingfield Stratford branch of the family who inherited it through Edward's will.<ref name=GHS>Stratford, Gerald H. The Stratfords, (Chapter 13, Belan, Aldborough, and Stratford House) online at Chapter 13, Belan, Aldborough, and Stratford House (accessed 27 January 2008)</ref> It belonged briefly to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, a son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.<ref name=trk>AN OASIS IN LONDON'S WEST END Template:Webarchive at asia-major.com (accessed 27 January 2008)</ref> The house was little altered until 1894, when its then owner, Mr Murray Guthrie, added a second storey to the east and west wings and a colonnade in front.<ref name=about/> In 1903, a new owner, the Liberal politician Sir Edward Colebrook, later Lord Colebrooke, reconstructed the Library to an Adam design. In 1908, Lord Derby bought a lease and began more alterations, removing the colonnade and adding a third storey to both wings. He took out the original bifurcated staircase (replacing it with a less elegant single one), demolished the stables and built a Banqueting Hall with a grand ballroom above.<ref name=about/>
In 1960 the house was purchased by the Oriental Club and converted to its present state. The ballroom was turned into two floors of new bedrooms, further lifts were added, and the banqueting hall was divided into a dining room and other rooms.<ref name=about/> The house now has a main drawing room, as well as others, a members' bar, a library and an ante-room, a billiards room, an internet suite and business room, and two (non)smoking rooms, as well as a dining room and 32 bedrooms.<ref name=trk/><ref>Drawing Rooms Template:Webarchive at Oriental Club web site (accessed 26 February 2011)</ref><ref>Facilities Template:Webarchive at Oriental Club web site (accessed 27 January 2008)</ref>
Stratford House is a Grade I listed building.<ref>*Listed Buildings in Stratford Place, WestminsterTemplate:Dead link – map at westminster.gov.uk (accessed 29 January 2008)</ref>
Notable buildings and occupantsEdit
- Stratford House (home to the Oriental Club)Template:Cn
- Number 4 Stratford Place was the headquarters of the Apollinaris Company Ltd in the early 1900s.Template:Cn
- The High Commission of Botswana<ref name="The London Diplomatic List">Template:Cite news</ref> is at 6 Stratford Place. The building is Grade II listed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The High Commission of Tanzania<ref name="The London Diplomatic List"/>
- Number 7 Stratford Place was the London home of Martin van Buren.Template:Cn
- A Kabbalah CentreTemplate:Cn
- Nos 12-13 are listed townhouses dating from 1774, designed by Richard Edwin.Template:Cn