It is appropriate that Grosvenor has played a direct part in the
revitalisation of Mount Street because it was Hugh Lupus Grosvenor –
the 1st Duke of Westminster, and a noted patron of English
architecture – who was directly responsible for the way Mount Street
looks today.
Named after a civil war fort (Oliver’s Mount) in what is now
Grosvenor Square, Mount Street was redeveloped on the instructions of
the 1st Duke. The original Georgian buildings were not up to scratch and
included a parish workhouse (where 103 now stands) for 600 paupers. The
1st Duke arranged for the workhouse, which was woefully overcrowded, to
be moved to a new site at Buckingham Palace Road.
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor favoured the Queen Anne revival style, which led
to the adoption of the Arts & Crafts movement architecture and red
brickwork of MountStreet in the redevelopment of the 1880s and 1890s.
Read more about the
history of Mount Street.
The Architecture
It is the architecture that sets Mount Street and South Audley Street
apart from much of the rest of Mayfair and gives it its own style.
The Survey of London: Volume 39 observes: “The great success of the
1st Duke’s rebuilding was undoubtedly Mount Street, a thoroughfare whose
élan and cheerful homogeneity are unique and not just on the estate but
in the whole West End.”
The degree to which the 1st Duke involved himself in the
redevelopment is obvious not only in the red brickwork, which he
insisted upon, but also in the architecture of The Audley Public House
at the west end of Mount Street. Originally called the Bricklayer’s
Arms, the Duke had it rebuilt and renamed to make it more “salubrious”.
So salubrious that Michelle Obama and her children were reported to have
dropped in for fish and chips on a recent visit to London.
The ‘new Mayfair’
The transformation of Mount Street is recent. It began with the
hugely celebrated reopening of Scott’s, the restaurant once again world
famous as a favourite haunt of celebrities. It was helped further by the
repositioning of the restaurant and refurbishment at The Connaught
hotel. But the real catalyst for change was the opening of a pioneering
new store by internationally recognised fashion designer Marc Jacobs at
24-25 Mount Street, in what had previously been an antique shop. It was
a radical move to open away from the accepted ‘luxury streets’ that
captured the attention of the fashion industry.
In just a couple of years, Marc Jacobs was joined in ‘new Mayfair’ by
Balenciaga, Christian Louboutin, Jenny Packham, perfumer Annick Goutal,
Harry’s of London, Lanvin and beauty brand Aesop. A new Marc by Marc
Jacobs store has now opened in South Audley Street and Browns opened its
first shoe shop at 59 Brook Street. These new, and sometimes edgy,
brands sit alongside some of Mayfair’s oldest names: Purdey, Thomas
Goode, Jo Hansford, Hayward, Alfred Dunhill (which has moved from Jermyn
Street to Davies Street), and Nicky Clarke.
Recent openings have included Wunderkind (literally “wonder child”),
the London HQ of noted German designer Wolfgang Joop. Stephen Webster
(creative director of Garrard- the world’s oldest jewellery house),
added sparkle to Mount Street when he opened his store in summer 2009.
Webster is a three-time winner of the coveted British Luxury Jeweller of
the Year title and in 2008 was named UK Jewellery Brand of the Year.
Upcoming openings include Nicholas Kirkwood and Loewe.
For detailed Mount Street stores and restaurants visit http://www.mountstreetmayfair.co.uk/
Click here for a street view of Mount Street.