The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-22

deRce of the Duke of Westminster This is the headquarters of the food controll- CTS department and as at Montagu house the principal apartment is the off, | flee of the controller, Lord Davenport, who began life as q grocer. Here again most of the pictures are still on the walls and much of the fine furniture re- mains. The ducal palaces were taken
 over in such a hurry that the dukes had not time to remove their effects and in
 any case probably they did not desire to 1 do so until the future of the houses is definitely settled.
 BUILT FOR KINGS BROTHER | Grosvenor house. which is situated in upper Grosvenor street, was originally built for the Duke of Gloucester, the younger brother of King George TIT, and was therefore, first known as Gloucester 1 house. The exact date of it's building is
 not known but it was probably about 1 179O. On the death of the duke in 1895, ], the property was taken over by the sec ond Earl of Grosvenor. the ancestor of ] the present Duke of Westminster. This nobleman was a great builder and a great
 art connoisseur. He it was who really laid the foundation of the familys im-
 mense wealth by developing the great
 estates in the West End of London
 which had fallen into his hands by in l heritance and marriage. He also laid the 1 foundation of the famous Westminster art collection, most of which is still l housed in Grosvenor house.
 A third home of the aristocracy that is now being devoted to the business of the 1 government is Spencer house, the town 1 house of Earl Spencer. It is situated in
 St James Place, close to St. James pal l ace, and has fine outlook on the Green l Park. It is now the headquarters of the
 royal commission on defense of the realm
 losses, an organization whose duty it is to assess the damage done to private citi- zens by the extraordinary war measures
 and regulations. Among other things 1 this commission sitting in Earl Spencer's l splendid house has to figure out just how much money some publican in the East
 End of London has lost because of the early closing and other restrictive regu- l lations on his business and decide how l much compensation he shall receive. 1 Spencer house was built in 1755 by John
 Spencer, son of the third Earl of Sun
 derland, who was created first Earl | Spencer in 1765. Like all his descendants 1 he was great politician, and also a great lover of the arts He began at l Spencer house the accumulation of fa-
 nous art collection, much of which has
 been dissipated in recent years. For a 1 good many years recently the house was occupied by Baron de Forest, the heir l of the late Baron Hirsch, the famous 1 philanthropist, who rented it from Earl 1 Spencer. Although not so large as Mon tagu house or Grosvernor house, Spencer house is considered by experts far finer example both of architecture and interior 1 decoration.
 JUST A GREAT BARN
 1 Probably no ducal house is so familiar I tc Americans visiting London as Devon shire house. the great barn of place which stands cn the north side of Pic
 cadlly, almost opposite the Ritz hotel. Taking the forecourt and the immerse gardens which stretch away behind and faces, it is the largest private residence l in London. It is the town house of I the Dukes of Devonshire and is seldom
 occupied by them for the Cavendishes l of recent years. at least, have preferred | their magnificent palace at Chatsworth 1 in Derbyshire, and their almost equally
 magnificent place at Eastbourne, on the south coast. Tor more than year this 1 great house has been the headquarters lof the recruiting organization for the
 army nursing service. and there is every Likelihood that it will soon share the fate of Montagu and Grosvenor houses and l be taken over permanently as the home l of a government department. If that is so the immense garden will doubtless dis l appear, for no one but duke, and
 millionaire at that, could afford to devote
 so much land in the most valuable part | of London to such purpose. If the 1 Devonshire house gardens go they will | probably soon be followed by those of
 Lansdowne house, which join them on 1 the north.
 of house which was built about 1665 jby Lord Berkeley of Stratton. and which 1 was known as Berkeley house. The name lis preserved in the Berkeley hotel close I by. In 1892 the house became the resi- I dence of Princess Anne afterwards I n,taa c1,n 1sxrnd until
 1896, when the house was bought by the l first Duke of Devonshire. This house was destroyed by fire in the time of the third duke in 1733 and the present house
 was built in the next year
 ARCHITECT FAILED
 The architect whp designed it was
 named Kent and it has been remarked that he did not add to his reputation l by doing so. This applies however, more | to the outside than to the inside, for it. 1 possesses some really noble rooms, and the decoration is good The building it. self cost $100000, which went a good deal further in those days than it would go lnow. The modern Devonshire house is chiefly remarkable for Its gardens, which are a splendid example of what the land- | scape gardener can do in the middle of
 a great city Of course the problem was much smplified by the neighborhood of the almost equally immense Lansdowne
 house gardens. and the two can almost be described as one private park
 l In addition to the ducal houses the l government is also continuing in it's course of devouring hotels and clubs The latest hotel to be taken is of special interest to many Americans who have 1 stayed there. It is the Hotel Cecil in the Strand the largest hotel in London, and its 1000 rooms are now being turned into
 offices for the air board. The govern- ! inent is also negotiating for the Royal 1 Automobile club. magnificent new struc- ture in Piccadilly which is the most up- | to-date and luxurious club building in London. In fact the club or hotel, which l is little and old-fashioned. considers it. self fortunate in these days If it is big and up-to-date the government is sure, sooner or later, to take it to house the 1 ever increasing army of clerks and 1 typists who seem to spring up from the ground as fast as the quarters are pre- | pared to house them.
 ' Some of these great buildings may re- 1 turn to private uses after the war. but I the majority of them will probably re-
 main government offices. Many of the departments which have been set up
 will be permanent features of the gov ernment and many of the old departments have been permanently enlarged.
 | Copyright, 1917, by Curtis Brown). | so--