Our History

John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, buys the empty site in Berkeley Square and commissions Robert Adam to design a house there

Lord Bute resigns as the King’s chief minister

William, second Earl of Shelburne, buys the unfinished property from Lord Bute, agreeing to keep to Adam’s original designs

Lord Shelburne becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department, responsible for American affairs

Lord Shelburne and his family move into the unfinished house. Lord Shelburne resigns as Secretary of State in October

After the death of his first wife, Lord Shelburne goes to Italy and starts his collection of paintings and antique statues

Outbreak of American War of Independence. Adam’s First Drawing Room completed

Lord Shelburne negotiates peace treaty with America. Tradition holds that he drafted the treaty in what is now the Round Room Cocktail Bar of The Lansdowne Club. His friend Benjamin Franklin is the chief American signatory

Lord Shelburne is created first Marquess of Lansdowne. The house becomes known as Lansdowne House

George Dance the Younger is commissioned to redesign Adam’s library and other rooms

The second Marquess of Lansdowne inherits the title and sells the bulk of his father’s art collection

The third Marquess of Lansdowne succeeds. He re-establishes the Lansdowne Art Collection

Further alterations to Adam’s library carried out by Robert Smirke the younger

Visitors to the house include Charles Dickens, Byron’s biographer Thomas Moore and Lord Macaulay

After fire destroys both Houses of Parliament, the Lansdowne Dining Room is used for meetings of the Privy Council until the Palace of Westminster is built

The third Marquess employs Matthew Arnold as his secretary

The fourth Marquess of Lansdowne succeeds

The fifth Marquess of Lansdowne succeeds

A sculpture gallery in the Gothic style is designed by T.H. Wyatt

The fifth Marquess holds office as Viceroy of India

As Foreign Secretary, the fifth Marquess negotiates the Anglo-Japanese Treaty and the Entente Cordiale

Lansdowne House is used as a first aid station throughout the First World War

The last grand family party at the house is held for the wedding of Lady Dorothy Cavendish to Harold Macmillan. The fifth Marquess rents the house to Gordon Selfridge, the American owner of Selfridge’s department store

The sixth Marquess of Lansdowne succeeds

An exhibition of English decorative art is held at Lansdowne House. The sixth Marquess then sells the house to the American architect and property developer Benson Greenall. Greenall is refused permission to build a fifteen-storey hotel on the south side of Berkeley Square

Greenall sells Lansdowne House to the Bruton Club

Lansdowne House is radically restructured. Adam’s façade is cut back forty feet. The First Drawing Room and Great Eating Room are dismantled and shipped to America

The Bruton Club sells the freehold to London Assurance

Official opening of the renamed The Lansdowne Club on 1 May. Plans to extend Curzon Street are shelved. The cul-de-sac outside the Club is named Fitzmaurice Place

Outbreak of the Second World War. The Club pool is closed for the duration

Adam’s First Drawing Room is reassembled for permanent display at the Museum of Art in Philadelphia

Swimming pool reopens on 12 February

Adam’s Great Eating Room is reassembled as the Lansdowne Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum in New York

Westminster Council builds the extension of Curzon Street, sweeping away The Lansdowne Club's steps' and adjusting the split levels

The Club buys the freehold

The Masterplan commences

Refurbishment of the Fencing Salle is completed

The sports area refurbishment is completed with a new exercise studio and steam room

The Club's Strategy is put into action to start the next chapter in the Club's history with a focus on Members, upgrading the Club and the Staff's development and training