Grosvenor Gardens House is a Grade II-listed mansion block at 23–47 Grosvenor Gardens, Belgravia, London. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother may have been born there in 1900. David Niven was born there in 1910, and William Henry Blackmore killed himself there in 1878. In 2017, the building was the subject of a £132-million High Court trial for damages brought against Christian and Nick Candy by Mark Holyoake, a former friend and business associate who had financed the purchase of the property via a loan from the brothers. The action was unsuccessful, but the course of the trial put the Candys' business practices under an unflattering spotlight. [1] [2]
Grosvenor Gardens House was built in about 1868 by the architect Thomas Cundy III in the French Renaissance style. It was originally called Belgrave Mansions, and when it was finished in 1868, it was London's first serviced apartment block.[3] During World War One it was placed at the disposal of the American Expeditionary Force, along with the nearby Goring Hotel. It was converted into a hotel in the 1920s, and then into offices in the 1930s.[3]
In 1878, William Henry Blackmore (1827–1878), killed himself in his study at Belgrave Mansions.[4]
In 2011, the 125000square feet full street block was purchased by Oakvest, and in 2013 Westminster City Council granted planning permission for conversion into 42 luxury flats, subject to a £7.1 million financial contribution to the Council's affordable housing fund.[3]
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 1900 birthplace remains uncertain, and Belgrave Mansions is one of the leading contenders, in a flat rented by her paternal grandparents and which her parents Lord Glamis and Lady Glamis stayed in when in London.[5]
Notable residents have included the actor David Niven, who was born there in 1910, as well as William Adolph Baillie-Grohman, the Austrian adventurer, writer and big game hunter.[6]
Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Pelly (1825–1892), the army officer and member of Parliament, lived there.[7]
Between March and December 2017, the building lay at the centre of a £132-million High Court trial for damages brought against Christian and Nick Candy by the entrepreneur Mark Holyoake.[8] Found against the plaintiff, December 2017, and refused appeal, June 2018..