Admiralty House, London

Admiralty House in London is a Grade I listed[2] building facing Whitehall, currently used for UK government functions and as ministerial flats. It was opened in 1788 and until 1964 was the official residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Admiralty House
The Music Room of Admiralty House
General information
LocationWestminster
AddressWhitehall
Town or cityLondon, SW1
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′19.8″N 0°7′38.64″W
Construction started1786
Completed1788[1]
ClientFirst Lord of the Admiralty
OwnerHer Majesty's Government
Technical details
Floor count3
Design and construction
ArchitectSamuel Pepys Cockerell[1]
Awards and prizesGrade I listed building

Description
2005 sketch map of Whitehall, London, noting the positions of major UK Government buildings. Admiral House is one of the "Old Admiralty Buildings" located in the upper left of the map.

Admiralty House is a four-story building of yellow brick. The front facade has a symmetrical facade of three broad bays and one additional small bay at the southern end. The rear facade is of five bays and faces Horse Guards Parade, with a basement-level exit under the corner of the Old Admiralty Building.

The front of the house faces Whitehall; its main entrance is in the corner of the Ripley Courtyard, cutting through the corner of the older Ripley Building, to which it is connected on the first and second floors.

History

Admiralty House was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, a protégé of Sir Robert Taylor, and opened in 1788. Built at the request of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1782–83 for "a few small rooms of my own", it was the official residence of First Lord of the Admiralty until 1964, and has also been home to several British Prime Ministers when 10 Downing Street was being renovated. U.S. President John F. Kennedy attended a meeting there with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962 to discuss the allies' reaction to the communist threat and more wide-ranging matters.

Winston Churchill lived in the house while serving as First Lord of the Admiralty for two terms, 1911–15 and 1939–40. It now contains government function rooms and three ministerial flats.[3]

Admiralty House is part of a complex of former Admiralty buildings and is sometimes confused with the more visible Ripley Building (also known as the Old Admiralty Office), built in 1726, or the Admiralty Extension, built between 1898 and 1904, and also with Admiralty Arch (1910).

The interior of Admiralty House is decorated in its original style. Depicted is the Music Room.

In recent times, Lord Malloch-Brown used one of the flats in Admiralty House while he was Minister of State for Africa, Asia and the United Nations.[4]

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References
  1. "Admiralty House". Survey of London. University of London. Retrieved 2010-05-08. The present building was erected in 1786–8 from the designs of Samuel Pepys Cockerell, Surveyor to the Board of Admiralty, and a pupil of Sir Robert Taylor.
  2. Historic England. "Grade I (1267114)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  3. Parliament — Ministerial Residences (21 July 2016,PDF) from the UK Parliament website
  4. Parliament — Ministerial Residences (21 July 2016,PDF), ibid.
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