page_title: Mayfair
section_title: Cultural references
hierarchical_section_title: Mayfair / Cultural references
caption_attribution_description: A close up of a corner of a British Monopoly board, showing the most and least expensive properties around the "GO" space.
context_page_description: Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in London and the world.
  The area was originally part of the manor of Eia and remained largely rural until the early 18th century. It became well known for the annual "May Fair" that took place from 1686 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market. Over the years, the fair grew increasingly downmarket and unpleasant, and it became a public nuisance. The Grosvenor family acquired the land through marriage and began to develop it under the direction of Thomas Barlow. The work included Hanover Square, Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square, which were surrounded by high-quality houses, and St George's Hanover Square Church.
  By the end of the 18th century, most of Mayfair was built on with upper-class housing; unlike some nearby areas of London, it has never lost its affluent status.
context_section_description: Mayfair (spelled "May Fair") is the home of Sir Brian in Thackeray's The Newcomes, and otherwise features as the most desirable part of London.
  Mayfair has featured in a number of novels including P. G. Wodehouse's The Mating Season (1949) and Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust, (1934). It is a partial setting for Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Michael Arlen's The Green Hat (1924). Oscar Wilde lived in Grosvenor Square between 1883 and 1884 and referred to it in his works. He regularly socialised in the artistic quarter along Half Moon Street, which is mentioned in both The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
  Mayfair is the most expensive property on the standard British Monopoly board at £400, and is part of the dark blue set with Park Lane. It commands the highest rents out of all properties; landing on Mayfair with a hotel costs £2,000. The price is a reference to the property values in the area, which have remained consistently high, with real-life rent as much as £36,000 per week. At the time the board was being designed in the 1930s, Mayfair still had a significant upper-class residential population.
  The department store Debenhams became one of the first companies in Britain to have a dedicated business telephone number, Mayfair 1, in 1903.
caption: A segment of a British Monopoly board, showing Park Lane and Mayfair
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