Queen Anne’s Gate St James’s, SW1

QUEEN ANNE’S GATE

ST JAMES’S, SW1

Former residence of foreign secretary & HQ of Cubitt construction company turned into luxury homes by David Linley.

Behind the historic Grade II listed façade, the new interiors of 1 Queen Anne’s Gate have been created by an extraordinary and exclusive collaboration with Linley, the design house founded by David Linley, and architects PDP London. The partnership has devised the apartment layouts and their bespoke specification; alongside the communal areas and dressed Show Homes.

David Armstrong-Jones, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, who was styled as Viscount Linley until 2017, and is known professionally as David Linley, founded Linley in 1985. World renowned, Linley creates bespoke furniture, luxury gifts and accessories, and undertakes interior design that showcases the finest in British design and craftsmanship.

Offering multiple Royal connections, 1 Queen Anne’s Gate in St James’s Park, is one of London’s most refined residential developments,

consisting of a grand historic building, originally the residence of the British Foreign Secretary and then the headquarters of Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. Now newly built behind the historic façade, providing 27 one, two and three bedroom lateral and duplex apartments and a five bedroom penthouse.

Linley and PDP London also designed the interiors of the basement amenity floor which provides over 3,000 sqft of space including a fully equipped gymnasium, spa, cinema, club lounge, dining/conference room and business centre. Complete with an elegant entrance foyer with hotel-like concierge and a car-parking complex.

Originally three separate A GRAND HISTORIC townhouses, with ancillary BUILDING, ORIGINALLY buildings behind, one THE RESIDENCE OF townhouse constructed in 1776 and second and third in THE BRITISH FOREIGN the 1850s, creating a grand SECRETARY

neo-Georgian façade. From 1900 the buildings served as the official London residence and adjacent offices for the British Foreign Secretary, a role held until 1928 when the residence was relocated to No.1 Carlton Gardens. Sir Edward Grey (1862-1933) served as Foreign Secretary between 1905 to 1916 and lived at Queen Anne’s Gate during this period, now commemorated by a blue plaque on the building’s façade.

In 1930-1931 the townhouses were amalgamated and remodelled to create the current five storey Edwardian building, the property serving as the headquarters of the legendry construction firm Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, founded in 1824 by brothers Thomas Cubitt, William Cubitt and Lewis Cubitt. As part of the remodeling the separate townhouse porticos were replaced by a single

central Georgian style entrance, above which was the Crest of Arms for Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, the doorcase and crest carved in 1931 by artist George Alexander. This elegant doorway with its crest of arms now serves as the entrance to the new apartment building.

Cubitt & Co, which grew into Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, was founded in 1824 and built parts of the Grosvenor Estate and Royal residences including the East front of Buckingham Palace and Osborne House. In 1909 the firm merged with rival Holland & Hannen (founded in 1815 by Benjamin Hannen) creating Holland, Hannen & Cubitts.

During the 1930s the firm was led by Chairman Lewis Cubitt Junior, who was the son of cofounder Lewis Cubitt. Operating from 1 Queen Anne’s Gate the company built South Africa House in 1933 and the Senate Building in 1937. During WWII the firm was asked by Winston Churchill to help build the floating Mulberry Harbours used for the 1944 D-Day Landings.

In 1949 at the age of just 25 Henry Cubitt (later the 4th Baron Ashcombe), a descendant of cofounder Thomas Cubitt, joined the firm and rose to become Chairman. Henry (1924-2013) was also the uncle and godfather of Camilla Shand (now HRH The Duchess of Cornwall) whose mother was Rosalind Cubitt, another descendant of Thomas Cubitt. Under Henry Cubitt the business based at 1 Queen Anne’s Gate built the Royal Festival Hall, completed in 1951, the Roxburgh Dam in New Zealand in 1956, New Zealand House in 1961, Heathrow Airport buildings in 1963 and the Le Cartier Apartments in Montreal in 1965, at the time the tallest residential skyscraper in the Commonwealth.

The young Camilla Shand has fondly recalled visiting her uncle’s offices at 1 Queen Anne’s Gate and through his connections Camilla landed a job at interior design firm Colefax & Fowler.

In 1976 Holland Hannen & Cubbitts was acquired by Tarmac resulting in 1 Queens Anne’s Gate being sold, becoming multi-let offices up until 2014, when planning was started to convert the building and ancillary properties behind into the new residential scheme now known as No.1 Queen Anne’s Gate.