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InBritish usage, the termtownhouse originally referred to the opulent town or city residence (in practice normally inWestminster near the seat of the monarch) of a member of thenobility orgentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as acountry house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses werestand-alone buildings, comparable to thehôtel particulier, which notably housed the French nobleman inParis, as well as to the urbandomus of thenobiles ofAncient Rome. but many wereterraced buildings.
British property developers and estate agents nowadays often use the term "townhouse" for terraced buildings, followingthe North American usage of the term, to aggrandise modest dwellings and attract buyers who associate the term "terraced house" with the cheapterraced housing built in theVictorian era to accommodate workers. The upmarket Victorian terraced housing, which can be found around many ofLondon's garden squares, seems to be widely forgotten in these circles.
Historically, a town house (later townhouse) was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses, generallymanor houses, in which they lived for much of the year and from the estates surrounding which they derived much of their wealth and political power. Many of theInns of Court in London served this function; for example,Gray's Inn was the London townhouse ofReginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (died 1308). A dwelling in London, or in the provincial city of the county in which their country estate was located, was required for attendance on the royal court, attendance in Parliament, for the transaction of legal business and business in general. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during thesocial season whenballs and other society gatherings took place.[1]
From the 18th century, most townhouses wereterraced; it was one of the successes ofGeorgian architecture to persuade the rich to buy terraced houses, especially if they were in agarden square. Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached; even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, theDuke of Norfolk was seated atArundel Castle in the country, while from 1722 his London house,Norfolk House, was a terraced house inSt James's Square, albeit one over 100 feet (30 metres) wide. Anciently the Dukes of Norfolk also had a townhouse, more properly a ducal palace, in the City of Norwich, the capital of the County of Norfolk, which was greatly enlarged byThomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (died 1572), whose London townhouse was then theLondon Charterhouse just outside of the northern wall of the City of London, re-named "Howard House".[2]
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In theMiddle Ages, the London residences of the nobility were generally situated within the walls or boundary of theCity of London, often known as "Inns", as the French equivalents are termedhôtel. For example,Lincoln's Inn was the town house of the 3rdEarl of Lincoln,[citation needed] andGray's Inn was a manor held by the 1stBaron Grey de Wilton.[3] At that time theTower of London, within the City, was still in use as a royal palace. They gradually spread ontothe Strand, the main ceremonial thoroughfare from the City to thePalace of Westminster, where parliamentary and court business were transacted. Areas such asKensington andHampstead were countryside hamlets outside London until the 19th century, so mansions in these areas, such asHolland House, cannot be considered as true historical townhouses. Bishops also had London residences, generally termedpalaces, listed below.
The greatest residence on the Strand was theSavoy Palace, residence ofJohn of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the richest man in the kingdom in his age and the father of King Henry IV. His chief seat wasBolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire. The Strand had the advantage of frontage to theRiver Thames, which gave the nobles their own private landing places, as had the royal palaces of Whitehall and Westminster and further out from the City Greenwich and Hampton Court. The next fashion was to move still further westwards toSt James's, to be near the Tudor royal court. In the 18th century,Covent Garden was developed by the Duke of Bedford on hisBedford Estate, andMayfair by the Grosvenor family on theirGrosvenor Estate. The final fashion before the modern era was for a residence on the former marsh-land ofBelgravia, on the southern part of the Grosvenor Estate, developed after the establishment of Mayfair by theDuke of Westminster. Many aristocratic townhouses were demolished or ceased to be used for residential purposes after theFirst World War, when the scarcity and greater expense of domestic servants made living on a grand scale impractical. The following examples, most of which are now demolished, are comparable to the Parisianhôtel particulier:
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Whilst most English examples of the townhouse occur in London, provincial cities also contain some historical examples, for example Bampfylde House (destroyed in WW II) in Exeter, the county capital of Devon, the townhouse ofBaron Poltimore of the Bampfylde family, whose main country seat was Poltimore House in Devon. Also in Exeter was Bedford House, also demolished, the town residence of theDuke of Bedford who resided principally atWoburn Abbey in Bedfordshire but required a base in the West Country from which to administer his vast estates there.
Georgian Dublin consisted of five Georgian squares, which contained the townhouses of prominent peers. The squares wereMerrion Square,St Stephen's Green,Fitzwilliam Square,Ruthland Square (now calledParnell Square) andMountjoy Square. Many of the townhouses in these squares are now offices while some have been demolished.[11]
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