Piccadilly Street

While not as prized district as St. James Square near Hyde Park, or Pall mall edging the St James' Park, residents of Piccadilly Street might be assured of noble neighbours.

#4 Townhouse of Mr and Mrs J Williamson

The facade of the House is amass of dark green ivy vines, set amongst great oak trees whose pale green new leaves shimmer hopefully in the spring breeze. A small pond is set in the front yard, dappled with lilly pads... it is a favourite haunt of neighbourhood boys who might steal away from their homes long enough to trespass for tadpoles.

Four columns support a great roof over the front doors, which are fashioned of stained glasswork depicting a multitude of saints.

#6 Residence of Sir Francis Kirke

Pass the white fence supported for further privacy with a thick chest-height forsythia hedge (which has yellow blooms in the spring), one can see a modest two-story red brick building, with white shutters and accents. A gravel driveway leads through the rather Spartan front yard to the front door as well as curving right to the side of the house to lead to a small private stable behind the house.

Two steps between two pillars create a small patio before the dark-brown front door with a brass knocker gleaming on it. Were one to enter, you would see a white and grey tiled floor, a staircase leading up and a door leading to a drawing room, decorated with red cherry wood furniture, green carpets and curtains and some grey and white accents to give the room a calmer air. Two chairs are set prominently between two large windows that allow a glance at the luscious back garden. The first floor also houses a dining room and a study that's full of various books in English, French, and Latin, as well as a few in Italian and German to aide Francis in his efforts to become fluent. If one were to peruse closely, one would note that many are historical, about swordsmanship or baton, or mathematical in nature. There are several model ships of interesting and atypical designs, clearly not of the typical Dutch design. Prominently displayed like a tapestry on the wall are sewn together Dutch ensigns left over from his conquests in the 3rd naval war. Upon the desk sits an intricately designed, filigree silver plate, the sort one might receive as a christening present. Up the grand staircase, covered with a dark-blue carpet, you'd find a number of bedrooms.

The back garden is well kept. At the very centre of the garden is a grand oak-tree that seems already ages old. In the shade the wide-spread branches of the oak offer, is a bench and three, small Paw Paw saplings brought back from the colonies. The garden also houses one cherry and two apple trees.

Spring always comes early to this garden, as numerous lilies-of-the-valley and snowdrops push their way out to greet the sun before the snow has completely melted before the garden turns into an enchanting field of blooms in spring when the fruit trees are at full bloom and the different spring flowers - Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissuses, and Anemones - spring up from the ground. During the summer, Gladioluses and Irises give tone to the garden and autumn decorates itself with the blossoms of Gerberas and Forget-Me-Nots. Perhaps surprisingly, however, there are no roses growing in this garden, the house owners sympathy belonging to the sharp-thorn Briar rose as numerous well-groomed bushes of the plant grow all around the garden.

#10 Jackdaw House, Residence of Lord Lowell

Two clusters of fruit trees--native pears, quince, plums, sour cherries, and apples of the Redstreak, Catshead, and Devonshire varieties--stand in front of the townhouse, covered in fine-wire mesh when fruiting to prevent birds from eating them. Beneath one of the clusters of trees is a magnificent wrought-iron birdfeeder, frequently visited by choughs, rooks, crows, songbirds, and the grey-naped jackdaws that give the house its name. Behind the opposite cluster and running along the left side of the house is a small garden with seasonal vegetables and some fragrant herbs, protected as the trees are (but year-round). Four fluted columns support a great roof over the front doors, and sweeping front steps welcome visitors to the house. The driveway curves to the right and to the back of the house, where a stately carriage house stands next to neatly-cut grass and native flowers.

The first floor is tiled and contains, besides the kitchen and hallway hung with paintings, a modest dining room (hung with a grand tapestry of flowering plants and jackdaws), a study (bookshelves, two leather chairs, grand oak doors and a desk, and three display cases filled with birds--their bones, skins, and fully-taxidermied bodies) where a small gray cat often sleeps, and a drawing room: a sprawling couch and chairs upholstered with dark brocade and leather, smelling faintly of tobacco. The second floor contains the master bedroom, a tiled bathroom with a claw-foot tub, a guest bedroom, and a small but very comfortable room for Damien's valet, Richard. The attic has beds for the two other household servants.

Not a mansion by any stretch of the imagination, the modest townhouse suits quite adequately.

#14 House for Sale

A square, two-story, red-brick dwelling encompassed with a dark-green lawn, in turn surrounded with a waist-high, wrought iron fence. A small, white porch extended from the front doors and connected to the cobble-stone path which traveled from the porch to the front fence without the slightest turn. Four ash trees stood symmetrically around the path, partially obscuring the first floor of the building from the street and providing shade over the path to the front door.

Two large windows stood on each side of the main door, revealing a music room on one side and a sitting room on the other. Three smaller windows provided views from the upstairs rooms over the trees and onto the city beyond.

#18 Owned by a Lady

The stone townhouse sits behind manicured hedges. Its front yard boasts a fountain sculpture of cupid hovering over a pairs of lovers. Built in the last ten years, the trees in its yard have yet to reach their fullness, a wide path leads arrivals directly to ominously large double doors. A very small garden, now unkempt from a lack of attention, lies behind the townhouse.

Inside the front door was an entry set with hall table with vase of fresh blooms. Springing from the entryway were two small rooms. To the right a study with bookshelf and comfortable mismatched chairs with a writing desk set near the window. To the left was the parlour, with cream settees with occasional tables scattered about. An English landscape sits above the fireplace.

Beyond the entry area was a formal room of grand proportion with broad staircase arising from it, though the room itself is minimally decorated with a scattering of chairs around a mat near the fire, and a piano at the far end. Passing through the grand room is a dining room with large table with an eclectic assortment of chairs, and beyond the dining room is the kitchen. There was a separate backstair in the kitchen for the servants.

The second floor contains three bedrooms. The third floor is for servants. There is a half cellar and half attic for storage.

#20 House for Sale

The geometric lines of the House stand stark against a neatly cropped lawn - it's gardens comprised of neatly trimmed hedges in the shapes of various mythological beasts. Beneath the Echidna tree is a marble bench from which the garden's design is optimally viewed - where upon in the dusk and a gentle breeze granting susurration to the leaves, the garden seems to come alive with excitement and adventure.

A sweeping arched driveway enters from one gateway and exeunt through the other, that carriages might drive right up to the steps that lead up to the house.

#24 Penton Place - The residence of Arabella Churchill

Standing at two stories tall, this residence is an elegant and silvery grey building wreathed by ivy.

A low topped with a wrought iron fence encircles the house, with its garden filled with exotic flowers.

A bronze doorknocker, fashioned in the shape of an Ivy leaf, glints upon the sturdy door.

#30 Mortimer House (formerly known as Montague House)

Rumoured to have been the secret meeting place for the Gunpowder Plot, Montague House retains an aura of drama, though so long ago now members of older circles cross the road rather than walking the path outside it's neatly trimmed hedgerows. It has recently been purchased by a gentleman new to London, the Baron of Silkstone.

The building itself is crafted of aged gray stone, while it's windows and front door stand in contrast being freshly painted a crisp white. There are a couple of citrus trees growing in the garnde, the central feature of the front lawn is a goldfish pond.

#34 House for sale

Situated on the northern side of east Piccadilly, Number 75 is a luxurious town home whose style of construction proclaims it to be a recent addition to the street. Built from slabs of dark granite it boasts two stories: The first floor rises in piano nobile over a rusticated ground story, its facade embellished with contrasting white trim and faux columns, while the second floor stands quite simple by comparison. Within the stone archway is the carved black wooden doorway, with a long tinted glass window to one side of the door that depicts a colorful peacock. An iron wrought lantern hangs for light, and a mass of thick ivy surmounts the stonework, climbing up and over the arch.

There is a 6 foot tall ironwork 'pike topped' fence mounted in a 12 inch tall concrete ‘base strip’ , both extending around the house on all sides. The front gate of the black ironwork fence is locked at all times, but there is a sign on the gate that reads 'Shake gate and please wait - guard dog'. Callers will be greeted very politely by a property guard who arrives in the company of a guard dog., but there is a 9 inch by 12 inch 'pass through slot, with a wooden box on the inner side of the fence for those who need to leave items and do not wish to wait.

A 4 foot tall by 2 foot wide yew box hedge lines the fence on the street side of the house, divided by the fence gate and stone walkway that lead up to the house itself. 5 foot tall juniper hedges edge each side of the yard and extend down both sides of the house, 2 small alcoves carved into the bulk of the bushes in which are tucked granite sculptures of nymphs. Flanking either side of the front of the house are two perfectly matched cherry trees, their branches kept trim and neat by the careful shears of a devoted gardener. 3 foot tall brick planters sit on either side of the front doorway with a small narrow arbor on either side of the house where the hedges end. An 8 foot wide, '3 tier' circular planter also of brick is centered on either side of the front walkway. Upon each side of the house where the arbor ends, 5 foot tall x 2 foot wide hawthorn hedges begin, hugging the fence closely, on the western side extending as far as the small carriage house, and also lining the eastern side of the yard and extending all along the rear fence of the garden.

Beginning before the rear end of the house, 12 trees encircle the rear garden, each planted just in front of the hedge with flower beds at their bases, their branches beginning at the very height the hedges leave off at, the limbs of each intertwined with its neighbor, to create a tall ‘screen of green’. At the center of the garden stands a rectangular reflecting pool that has been enlivened by the addition of carp and goldfish. To either side of the pond, situated between the trees and before the hedges is a stone bench. In the northwestern-most corner of the rear yard, between the hedges and the trees, is a small carriage house that has a 4 foot tall brick planter on one side.

#38 House for sale

The residence is separated from the bustle of the street by a five foot tall brick wall. A carriage arch with ornate wrought-iron gates leads into the modest but elegant front garden. A gravel driveway forks towards a small stable with an attached carriage house. The facade of the two-story townhouse itself is plastered with lime, and the fashionable sash windows have been painted black for contrast. Above the massive walnut wood double door is a balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade, supported by four pillars, creating a small portico.

#40 Taigh nan Craobhan- Murray Residence

Taigh nan Craobhan (or House of the Trees in Scottish Gaelic) is the modest two-story townhouse of Dorset stone. The plain facade, complete with a neatly trimmed perimeter hedge in the front, is livened up by the white paint of the sash windows and the many fruit trees in the back garden. Varieties of pear, apple, cherry, and plum trees dot the country garden with falling blossoms in the spring. A small stable is set apart from the rest of the yard. The front door painted a deep maroon, and the stained glass panels flanking each side of it add a touch of elegance: vines of red roses climb up a background of blue glass.

The first floor has plain, if well-kept, wooden floors and contains a kitchen that lies at the back of the house as well as a small reception room (with a mismatched array of chairs and a carved oak table that folds away when not in use), a practical dining room, and a neat though very small study (an oak writing desk and chair being the only things that will fit properly in the small space). The second floor contains two moderately sized bedrooms, one the master and one the guest though they are nearly the same size. The attic is used for servant quarters, including Stephen’s manservant Artair.

#42 House of Sir Bartholomew Hyde

A brick building lies on the street corner and next to a vacant lot. It is said that Sir Bartholomew owns the lot and plans to keep it vacant. There is a garden upon it, but it's hidden behind a high wall.

The house has its own garden out back, which is somewhat overgrown with weeds. A ten foot stone wall around the property helps ensure privacy. An assortment of tall trees also obscures much of a view of the house from the street.

#1 Whitehurst Residence

A white stone townhouse with well cared for lawns and neatly trimmed hedges, it roof recently re-tiled. Around the back is a small stone stable with room for the owners carriage and horse.

A broad flight of white steps lead up to the front door - the door knocker resembles a fleur de lis fashioned from brass.

#5 Langland House

A square, two-story, red-brick dwelling encompassed with a dark-green lawn, in turn surrounded with a waist-high, wrought iron fence. A small, white porch extended from the front doors and connected to the cobble-stone path which traveled from the porch to the front fence without the slightest turn. Four ash trees stood symmetrically around the path, partially obscuring the first floor of the building from the street and providing shade over the path to the front door.

Two large windows stood on each side of the main door, revealing a music room on one side and a sitting room on the other. Three smaller windows provided views from the upstairs rooms over the trees and onto the city beyond.

#11 House of Middlesex

This red brick townhome with black shutters is the home of the infamous Earl of Middlesex. A black wrought-iron fence surrounds the modest front yard. In the back is a well-tended garden and a small fountain with a statue of Venus in the center.

#15 Available

A white stone townhouse with well cared for lawns and neatly trimmed hedges, it roof recently re-tiled. Around the back is a small stone stable with room for the owners carriage and horse.

A broad flight of white steps lead up to the front door where a brass lion's head greets visitors with a growl, holding a solid ring door knocker between it's teeth.

#19 Craven House, Residence of the Dowager Countess Ravenscar

A tidy house built of red brick, #25 sits some distance back from the street and is approached via a curving drive that bissects a neat, well-manicured lawn. It is Jacobean in design with contrasting sandstone trim and several heavily paned bow windows overlooking both the front yard and the rustic garden to be found at the house's rear. Informal, this garden has been planted with several bushes of red and pink roses, some beds of spring bulbs, and, surprisingly, perhaps, a very well-kept physic garden close to the house. An ancient, gnarled oak tree boasts pride of place at the very center of the garden and an ornate, circular, ironwork bench has been constructed around the tree's trunk to make use of the copious amounts of shade offered by the canopy of leafy foliage. Surrounded by a brick wall, the garden is partitioned from the small stable and coach house though both can be accessed via a small door hidden behind a curtain of trailing ivy.

To enter the townhome, one must present oneself to the paneled black door and make use of the silver door-knocker in the shape of a shell.

#29 Townhouse of John Manners, Lord Roos

The two-story townhouse of weathered grey stone occupies a 1 acre property fenced with wrought iron. In some places,the navy blue paint of the window sashes & trim is peeling and in need of attention. The front lawn is neat but sparse, ornamented only by a few box hedges and a large oak tree. There is a semi-circular carriage drive to the front door as well as a path leading to the small stable & carriage house in the back. On the first floor there is a parlor, library/office, a small dining room, and in the back, the kitchen. A creaking stair leads to the second floor, where there are a total of 3 bedrooms. Servant’s quarters are located in the attic. There is also a small garden in the back of the home with a some flowering shrubs and a couple of marble benches positioned to admire a statue of the Three Graces dancing hand-in-hand.

#35 The Townhouse of Viscount Baintree

A red brick townhouse stands midst manicured lawns and neatly trimmed flowerbeds with an impressive variety of roses. Departing from the main path to the front door, a side path weaves away on a meandering path, as though inviting visitors to take a tour of the gardens first.

A broad flight of twelve steps lead up to the front door - the doorknocker features as a lions head with a large ring held in its mouth fashioned from brass.

#39 Townhouse of the Earl of Clare

One of the older residences on Piccadilly Street, the white stone mansion was set back from the street, the drive leading between the two homes to either side and through a small front garden. The three-storey structure appeared as though it had been there forever, ivy climbing the stones wherever they might. A covered entry allowed for carriages to deposit their occupants comfortably protected from inclement weather.

#43 Owned by Newcastle

The stone townhouse sits behind manicured hedges. Its front yard boasts a fountain sculpture of cupid hovering over a pairs of lovers. Built in the last ten years, the trees in its yard have yet to reach their fullness, a wide path leads arrivals directly to ominously large double doors. A very small garden, now unkempt from a lack of attention, lies behind the townhouse.

Inside the front door was an entry set with hall table with vase of fresh blooms. Springing from the entryway were two small rooms. To the right a study with bookshelf and comfortable mismatched chairs with a writing desk set near the window. To the left was the parlour, with cream settees with occasional tables scattered about. An English landscape sits above the fireplace.

Beyond the entry area was a formal room of grand proportion with broad staircase arising from it, though the room itself is minimally decorated with a scattering of chairs around a mat near the fire, and a piano at the far end. Passing through the grand room is a dining room with large table with an eclectic assortment of chairs, and beyond the dining room is the kitchen. There was a separate backstair in the kitchen for the servants.

The second floor contains three bedrooms. The third floor is for servants. There is a half cellar and half attic for storage.

#35 The Camrose residence - Rented by the Saluzzo's

The house was plastered with light blue, edged with creme to frame each square. It was a recent adaptation to make it fit the fashion of the times which had a taste for the geometrical. The front garden had a small drive just off the street with a front garden filled with small low hedges creating flower beds that were just coming to bloom in early May.

The front door held a cord with a brass bell. Inside it opened into a whitely tiled floor and a large stairways with a red carpet. Downstairs one would fit a parlor, a dining room and a very pleasant gardenroom, opening a view to what one would call a country garden full of flowers in summer. Even now, with the garden still awakening there was a pleasant scent coming from the rosemary and sage brushes. The wine ranks were starting to reveal their green leaves, promising to give a nice yield of table grapes in september as well as nice shadow during the summer months.

The rest of the house was simple and austere, but made with the best materials, giving off the impression of wealth.

#38 Townhouse of August Nutting of Kenthorpe, the Earl of Derwick

The gravel driveway leads to a two stories tall red brick building with a mahogany front door with a bronze knocker. The house is separated from the street by an iron wrought fence. A path curves around the left of the house to an orderly garden and stable.

#43 House for Sale

The town house was commissioned many years ago - and boasts a sweeping crushed drive way to expedite the arrival of carriages with guests. And what parties have been had in this house, it's libertine reputation remains to this day.

Ivy has grown up the walls of the tall building, and a glorious display of flowers bring brightness to its sober lines. Within its grounds are intermittently placed sculptures of frolicsome scenes of nymphs at play.

#47 Former Townhouse of Captain Bennett Esq

A modest yellow brick townhouse sits along Piccadilly, with a black wrought-iron fence around the small grounds. A portico with white pillars graces the entrance door. The grounds are neatly landscaped with a colourful garden in the rear.

#51 Former Townhouse of Mr Polwhele

An austere and impressive building set behind neatly trimmed hedges, the front grounds quite spartan, grand columns ascending the full height of the building. The front doors are a good twelve feet high opening into a black and white marble tiled foyer.

To the rear of the building a private stables.

#55 House for sale

A sedate brick dwelling, with orderly roses beds in geometric figuration.. The house sits narrow upon the section, and running the east boundary is a stately row of poplar trees - the curse of their neighbours for how they block out the afternoon sun.

The front door is a dark wood alongside which a bell hangs on a scrolled hook, clanger distending from it's middle upon a rope.

#59 House for sale

The charming older two story townhouse had seen many alterations to the original design that first set on the street. Mature rambling roses have crept their way up the walls, spring time brining a promising glow of verdant green all about, and pink rosebuds are beginning to bloom.

There is a narrow drive that runs behind the home to a small quaint courtyard and stable.

The home’s most unique feature is not one but two front doors. The second front door enters a conservatory, lining the sun kissed room are various exotic species of flowers, has well as even some fragrant herbs and spices.

#61 House for sale

A two story house of Dorset stone, it's country style garden boasts many fruiting trees, which are a shock of blooms in spring, scattering petals like confetti upon the ground. It's front door is a deep maroon with full length stained glass windows to either side.

This house was formerly owned by Lady Armitage.

Also See

• Real Estate - London