Cornwall Terrace
{{short description|Grade I listed architectural structure in London}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Cornwall Terrace
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| image = File:Cornwall Terrace.jpg
| image_alt = 1–21 Cornwall Terrace in 2010
|image_size=270px
| caption = 1–21 Cornwall Terrace in 2010
| map_type = United Kingdom London Westminster
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in Westminster
|map_size=270
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| building_type = Historic building with several mansions
| architectural_style = Greco-Roman
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| address = Cornwall Terrace Mews, City of Westminster, London NW1, UK
| location_town = London Borough of Westminster, Greater London
| location_country = England
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| coordinates = {{Coord|51|31|27|N|0|9|27|W|display=inline,title|region:GB_type:landmark}}
| groundbreaking_date =1821
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| completion_date = 1823
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| renovation_date =1980
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Cornwall Terrace (also 1–21 Cornwall Terrace) is a Grade I listed building of consecutive terraced mansions overlooking Regent's Park in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated at the park's southwest corner, near Baker Street, between York Terrace and Clarence Terrace,{{cite book|last=Elmes|first=James|title=A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs: Containing Descriptive and Critical Accounts of All the Public and Private Buildings, Offices, Docks, Squares, Streets, Lanes, Wards, Liberties, Charitable, Scholastic and Other Establishments, with Lists of Their Officers, Patrons, Incumbents of Livings, &c. &c. &c. in the British Metropolis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjEQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA352|accessdate=21 November 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1831|publisher=Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot|pages=150–}} within the park's Crown Estate development. Cornwall Terrace was part of the scheme of the Prince Regent, later King George IV, to develop grand housing in Regent's Park.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/8163199/Terraced-street-on-sale-for-400-million.html|title=Terraced street on sale for £400 million|date=2010|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128190955/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/8163199/Terraced-street-on-sale-for-400-million.html| archive-date=28 November 2010}} The buildings are Grade I listed buildings.{{NHLE|desc=1–21 Cornwall Terrace|num=1356971|accessdate=17 May 2020}}
History
Cornwall Terrace was one of the earliest buildings constructed in Regency Park, and the park's first completed terrace. The terrace was constructed, between 1821 and 1823, by the property developer James Burton, to a Greco-Roman
design by Decimus Burton and Sir John Nash.{{cite web|title=Entry for Burton, Decimus, in Dictionary of Scottish Architects|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=202023|access-date=20 March 2017|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226100846/http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=202023|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/50182?rskey=dTXFr9&result=1|title=''James Burton [Haliburton]", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|access-date=31 March 2018|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329120443/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/50182?rskey=dTXFr9&result=1|url-status=dead}} After the Second World War, the terrace was refurbished. It became a Grade I listed building on 9 January 1970.
In January 1975, hippie groups moved in and squatted the entire terrace.{{cite book |last1=Wates |first1=N |last2=Wolmar |first2=C |title=Squatting the Real Story |date=1980 |location=London |isbn=0-9507259-0-0 |page=40}} The Divine Light Mission opened up a health food store.{{Cite web|title=London Baker Street Cornwall Terrace squat (1976)|url=http://www.laslett.info/squatting/cornwall_terrace.htm|access-date=2021-05-28|website=www.laslett.info}} Later in 1975, after the squatters were evicted, the terrace became the headquarters of British Land, a large property development company.{{Cite book|last1= Weinreb |first1= Christopher Hibbert Ben |last2= Keay|first2= John & Julia |title= The London Encyclopaedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA208|accessdate=6 November 2012|publisher= Pan Macmillan |year=2012|page=208|isbn= 9780230738782 |edition= 3rd }}
In the 2000s, much of the terrace was refurbished by Oakmayne Developers, who turned 18 of the houses into 8 luxury residences.{{cite news |last1=Ashworth |first1=Anne |title=Big, beautiful, in shades of grey – and starting at £26m |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/big-beautiful-in-shades-of-grey-and-starting-at-pound26m-tq0l5tgf3kl |access-date=6 June 2019 |work=Times |date=16 September 2011}} The refurbishment of eight mansions was overseen by English Heritage and the Crown Estate. Each home was given the name of a notable person connected to the terrace.{{cite web |title=Cornwall Terrace, Regents Park |url=https://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/news/cornwall-terrace-regents-park |website=Building Centre |accessdate=6 June 2019 |archive-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528225241/https://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/news/cornwall-terrace-regents-park |url-status=dead }}
Architecture
File:Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park - Shepherd, Metropolitan Improvements (1828), p291.jpg
Architectural features give the building a regal appearance. The ground storey is rusticated, while the principal storeys are of the Corinthian order. The terrace block originally consisted of 19 houses, with Nos. 20 and 21 constructed later from the south pavilion. The original design contained three main storeys, an attic storey, pavilions, mansards, and basements, as well as shallow porches, square headed doorways, shallow architraves, first floor cornices, balustraded parapets, wings with Venetian-style windows, cast iron balconies, and spearhead area railings. There are fluted shafts, well proportioned capitals, and an entablature,{{Cite book|last=Timbs|first=John|title=The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Volume 13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVEYAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA306|accessdate=6 November 2012|publisher= The University of California|year=1829|page=306|edition=Public domain}} No. 1 was adorned with a caryatid-bow.
No. 1
File:1-18 Cornwall Terrace London (2).jpg
No. 1 Cornwall Terrace is {{convert|21500|sqft}} in size.{{Cite news|url-status=dead |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-11-02/news/34859004_1_savills-cornwall-terrace-london|title= World's most expensive house up for sale at 100 million pounds|date=2 November 2012|work=India Times|archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203061109/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-11-02/news/34859004_1_savills-cornwall-terrace-london}} It has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a hydraulic elevator, and 11 reception rooms; it is described as a "Trophy Home". The interior consists of hardwood floors and doors, Italian marble, period fireplaces, cornices.
No. 1 was the home of the New Zealand High Commissioner from 1955 until the mid-1970s;{{cn|date=June 2020}} Sir Clifton Webb was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to live here.
By 2002, it belonged to telecommunications entrepreneur Charles Wigoder. Oakmayne Developers bought the mansion in 2007. When they refurbished it, two extra floors were added in the basement by digging {{convert|2|m}} below the original basement.
Moza bint Nasser, the consort of a former Emir of Qatar bought numbers 1, 2 and 3 Cornwall Terrace in 2013 for an estimated £120 million.{{cite news |last1=Ellyatt |first1=Holly |title=Qatari royals' hopes for London palace crumble |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/30/qatari-royals-hopes-for-london-palace-rejected.html |accessdate=28 May 2019 |work=CNBC |date=30 January 2015}} The following year, a planning application was made to merge the three properties into one 34,155 square foot home.{{cite news |last1=Bloomfield |first1=Ruth |title=Supersize my home: London now a hotspot for 'monster houses' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7ee525e6-7ba1-11e4-a695-00144feabdc0 |accessdate=28 May 2019 |work=Financial Times |date=12 December 2014}} The plan for a super-mansion with 17 bedrooms, 14 lounges, four dining rooms, a swimming pool, a cinema and a cigar lounge was recommended for refusal and withdrawn.{{cite news |last1=Booth |first1=Robert |last2=Clark |first2=Tim |title=Westminster council rejects Qatari royal family's plans for £200m palace |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/29/westminster-council-rejects-qatari-royal-family-plan-palace |accessdate=28 May 2019 |work=The Guardian|date=29 January 2015}}
No. 6
No. 6 was put on sale in 2011 for £39 million. The refurbishment included marble floors, a £60,000 fireplace and a hydraulically operated lift.{{cite news |last1=Middleton |first1=Christopher |title=The world's most expensive terrace |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/luxury-homes/8256908/The-worlds-most-expensive-terrace.html |accessdate=6 June 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 January 2011}}
No. 9 – Siddons House
Pramod Agarwal bought No. 9 from Christian Candy for £37.5 million in October 2013 and was later forced to sell it. The residence is made from two townhouses knocked together in the 2000s.{{cite news |last1=Prynn |first1=Jonathan |last2=Watts |first2=Matt |title=Tycoon sells opulent London home after slump in his fortune |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tycoon-sells-opulent-london-home-after-slump-in-his-fortune-a3221166.html |accessdate=6 June 2019 |work=Evening Standard |date=8 April 2016}} Since its refurbishment it is known as Siddons House after Mary Frances Scott-Siddons, who complained to the Prince Regent about the plans for Cornwall Terrace ruining her views of the park from Upper Baker Street.
No. 11 – Silk House
Silk House (No. 11) was judged the Evening Standard's best new luxury home in 2011. It has a gym with spa, library, vault, five bedrooms, six reception rooms and staff quarters.{{cite news |last1=Spittles |first1=David |title=London Evening Standard New Homes Awards 2011: the winners |url=https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/buying/new-homes/london-evening-standard-new-homes-awards-2011-the-winners-29550.html |accessdate=6 June 2019 |work=Homes & Property |date=12 May 2011}} It is named after former resident James Silk Buckingham.
No. 13
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation has been based at Nos. 13–14 since 1993. It was formerly the home of Arthur Lasenby Liberty.{{cite web |title=Background to Daiwa Foundation Japan House |url=http://dajf.org.uk/japan-house |website=Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation |publisher=DAJF |accessdate=6 June 2019}}
No. 17
No. 18/19
Numbers 18 and 19 are owned by Vijay Mallya, who is subject to an extradition request by the Indian Government for various financial crimes.{{cite news |last1=Shashank |first1=Bengali |last2=Parth |first2=M. N. |title=India's former 'King of Good Times,' beer baron Vijay Mallya, is arrested in London |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-india-tycoon-20170418-story.html |accessdate=3 July 2019 |date=18 April 2017}} In 2018, he claimed that the property did not belong to him but his mother. Banks wanting to claim his assets found that the property was owned by a British Virgin Islands-based company called RCV, which is owned by Gladco Properties, which is owned by Continental Administration Service Ltd (CASL). CASL is a trustee of the Sileta Trust, which is a Mallya family trust.{{cite news |last1=Saikia |first1=Gogona |title=Mallya says his UK properties aren't his.So whose are they? |url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/mallya-says-uk-properties-aren-131607172.html |accessdate=3 July 2019 |work=Yahoo News India |date=11 July 2018}} UBS Group AG pursued an order for possession in November 2018, seeking to evict Mallya, his son Sidhartha and his 95-year-old mother Lalitha Devi. The bank claimed that the five-year £20.4 million mortgage had not been repaid. The judge threw out Mallya's arguments and set a trial for May 2019.{{cite news |last1=Canton |first1=Naomi |title=UK judge throws out most of Mallya's arguments as he makes desperate bid to hang on to London mansion |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/66758233.cms |accessdate=3 July 2019 |work=The Times of India|date=23 November 2018}}
Mallya then negotiated a settlement with UBS and the trial was vacated. According to the terms of the agreement, Mallya can remain in the property and if the mortgage is not repaid by April 2020, UBS have a right to immediate possession. Mallya must also pay the interest of £820,333 accrued up to April 2019 plus any further amount accrued up to 1 May 2020. He was also instructed to pay legal costs of £1,047,081 and receivers' costs of £223,863. Mallya is still appealing his extradition to India.{{cite news |title=Vijay Mallya settles for more time with Swiss bank to pay off mortgage for plush London home |url=https://www.firstpost.com/business/vijay-mallya-settles-for-more-time-with-swiss-bank-to-pay-off-mortgage-for-plush-london-home-6633881.html |accessdate=3 July 2019 |work=First Post |agency=Press Trust of India |date=15 May 2019}}
No.20 – Lethbridge House
Lethbridge House (No.20) is a six bedroom house with swimming pool, gym, steam room, cinema and ballroom. It was put on sale in 2012 for £48 million.{{cite news |last1=Prynn |first1=Jonathan |title=£48m for the Regent's Park house with swimming pool and ballroom. £3m extra for the paintings |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/48m-for-the-regents-park-house-with-swimming-pool-and-ballroom-3m-extra-for-the-paintings-8343078.html |accessdate=28 May 2019 |work=Evening Standard}} It is named after former resident Roper Lethbridge.
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Houses in the City of Westminster
Category:Grade I listed houses in London
Category:Houses completed in 1823
Category:1823 establishments in England
Category:John Nash (architect) buildings
Category:Decimus Burton buildings
Category:Neoclassical architecture in London
Category:James Burton (property developer) buildings