If walls could talk
devonshire house was the london home of grand
aristocracy and a place frequented by royals, but
a century ago it was demolished. felicit ydaylooks
at some of the great events that took place thereI
t was in 1919 that Victor Cavendish,
the 9th Duke of Devonshire, parted
company with a house that had been in
his family for more than 200 years. He
sold Devonshire House, a famous landmark
of Georgian London, to developers for
£750,000, a sum equal to about £30 million
today. Demolition began in earnest in 1924,
and within a few short years a new block of
luxury flats had emerged from the rubble, its
name alone a reminder of the iconic house
that had been lost.
Like many aristocrats, the duke and
duchess had been hit hard by increased
taxation after the First World War,
particularly as their estates were already
encumbered by debts. Asset rich but cash
poor, they chose to part with a slice of
London real estate that was incredibly
valuable to developers – although it was not
only about the money. After the war, large
town residences were increasingly surplus
to requirements; the aristocracy were no
longer dancing attendance on the royals at
Right, the 9th Duke of Devonshire, under
whom Devonshire House was sold and
demolished. Far right, Devonshire House as
Jane Austen would have known it. The high
wall was a magnet for Georgian graffiti artists