Marlborough House

Marlborough House is a mansion in Westminster, London, Pall Mall east of St. James 's Palace.

It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the confidant of Queen Anne. The Duchess wanted her new house "strong, plain and convenient and good". Christopher Wren, father and son, designed a brick building, which was completed in 1711. The building served long as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough over a century.

The house was taken over in 1817 by the Crown. In the 1820s there were plans to Marlborough House to demolish and replace it with a building with a large terrace similar to that of Carlton House Terrace. This idea is found in some contemporary maps, including the great London Card by Christopher and John Greenwood from 1830, but it was never implemented. The house was used by members of the royal family. 1853 taught Prince Albert here the " National Art Training School ," then the later the Royal College of Art After the school was in 1861 moved to the building for the Prince of Wales to a design by Sir James Pennethorne on the north side were a number of rooms and a porch added. From 1863 to 1901 he lived, later King Edward VII, there. At that time, Marlborough House London was the social center.

1936 Marlborough House was the London residence of the Queen Dowager, Mary of Teck, the widow of King George V. After Queen Mary's death in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II donated the building to the Commonwealth Secretariat, which uses it to this day.

The nearly cubic Salon carries murals by Louis Laguerre, showing the Second Battle of Blenheim. The inset dome is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi, which partly comes from the design of the Queen's House in Greenwich. Twisted -scale staircases flank the lounge with a further battle scenes of Laguerre. A held in late Art Nouveau and Gothic Revival Memorial Fountain by Alfred Gilbert (1926-1932) in the Marlborough Road on the wall of the house is reminiscent of Edward's wife, Queen Alexandra.

Marlborough House is normally available at the Open House Weekend in September for the public. In addition, every Tuesday offered guided tours for groups by prior arrangement.

The building stands as a Grade I monument is listed since 5 February 1970.