Whitehall Court

Whitehall Court, seen from South Bank. The National Liberal Club takes up the fourth on the right; the rest is mainly residential.
The southern half of Whitehall Court, encompassing numbers 3 and 4, photographed from inland.

Whitehall Court in London, England, is one contiguous building but consists of two separate constructions; the end occupied by the National Liberal Club was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the major part (including the Royal Horseguards Hotel) was designed by Archer & Green.

The Royal Horseguards Hotel, owned by Guoman Hotels,[1] covers 1 & 2 Whitehall Court. The remainder (3 & 4 Whitehall Court) is where the Farmers Club, offices of various charitable or commercial organisations and its residential part is located.

Whitehall Court was built during the mid-1880s by Archer & Green with financing provided by Jabez Balfour. The story that led to the creation of the building is described in Jabez: The rise and fall of a Victorian rogue by David McKie.

Well-known residents have included George Bernard Shaw, Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, H. G. Wells, Sarah Caudwell, and Stafford Cripps. James Compton Merryweather, the fire engineer, lived at number 4 from before 1902 to his death in 1917. It is also home to the Farmers Club, the United Nations Association UK and Liberal International, which is housed within the National Liberal Club.

The building forms part of the vista, frequently photographed by tourists, from the bridge in St. James's Park looking towards Horse Guards Parade.

It was used as Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) headquarters until the end of World War I. A blue plaque in Mansfield Smith-Cumming's name at the SIS headquarters at 2 Whitehall Court was unveiled on 30 March 2015.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.guoman.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/london/the_royal_horseguards/
  2. ↑ Norton-Taylor, Richard (31 March 2015). "Sir Mansfield Cumming, first MI6 chief, commemorated with blue plaque". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
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Coordinates: 51°30′21″N 0°07′27″W / 51.5057°N 0.1241°W / 51.5057; -0.1241

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