Carlton House

Carlton House stood on the south side of Pall Mall in Westminster, facing St James’s Park. It was rebuilt for Henry Boyle in 1709 and later became the town residence of the Prince of Wales. The house was enlarged by Frederick, Prince of Wales, and substantially remodelled for his son George between 1783 and 1796. Carlton House became the centre of a glittering court during the regency era. Its gardens adjoined St James’s Park, linking the royal residence to the wider landscape. The house is worth the journey because it shaped London’s ceremonial route. John Nash’s grand avenue from St James’s to Regent’s Park was planned to approach Carlton House. The building introduced Louis XVI style to England under Henry Holland’s direction. Horace Walpole praised its taste and propriety when he saw the State Apartments in 1785. The crimson drawing room witnessed Princess Charlotte’s wedding in 1816. After George IV’s accession, Carlton House served as the first royal proclamation site in 1820. Visitors found a sequence of grand rooms on the main floor. They entered through a hexastyle Corinthian portico into a foyer with yellow-marble Ionic columns. Beyond lay a two-storey entrance hall and an octagonal room lit from above. The grand staircase led to private apartments, while formal rooms included a throne room, drawing room, music room and dining room. On the lower ground floor, folding doors created an eight-room enfilade ending in a gothic conservatory. The garden, redesigned by Humphry Repton, opened directly from these rooms onto the Mall.