Spencer House
SPENCER HOUSE, 27, ST JAMES'S PLACE SW1
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1264952
- Date first listed:
- 24-Feb-1958
- List Entry Name:
- Spencer House
- Statutory Address:
- SPENCER HOUSE, 27, ST JAMES'S PLACE SW1
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-08-29
- Reference:
- IOE01/05181/12
- Rights:
- © Mr John Fenton. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1264952
- Date first listed:
- 24-Feb-1958
- List Entry Name:
- Spencer House
- Statutory Address 1:
- SPENCER HOUSE, 27, ST JAMES'S PLACE SW1
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- SPENCER HOUSE, 27, ST JAMES'S PLACE SW1
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 29174 80112
Details
TQ 2980 SW CITY OF WESTMINSTER ST. JAMES'S PLACE, SW1 81/76 24.2.58 No 27 (Spencer House) GV I Town mansion. 1752-54 by John Vardy, traditionally the design also attributed to General Gray. Building and decoration from 1756 to 1766, including interiors by James Stuart c. 1759 and interior alterations by Sir Robert Taylor, c. 1772, and Henry Holland, c. 1785. Portland stone, slate roof. Pure Palladian, particularly the Green Park facade inspired by Palladio design via Burlington's General Wade house. To Green Park 2 storey pedimented facade, consisting of arcaded and rusticated podium storey supporting piano nobile with engaged Doric order, the whole raised on sub- basement balustraded terrace with vermiculated rustication and semicircular arched openings. 7 windows wide. Ground floor/ basement has flat arched glazing bar sashes recessed in panels with impost strings within arcade. 1st floor has architraved glazing bar sashes with alternating segmental-triangular pediments framed by the Doric order, with terminal pilasters, supporting an enriched Doric entablature with the broad pediment, containing palm-wreathed oculus, over the central 5 bays and balustraded parapet with carved urns and statues on the dies and pediment. The entrance flank to St. James's Place is of 3 storeys and basement and pedimented dormers to attic. 6 windows wide. Rusticated ground floor, with cornice and blind balustrade at 1st floor level, is arcaded with linking impost string. Entrance in bay adjoining the pedimented pavilion return to Park front, is pedimented with rusticated surround and lamp standards with extinguishers. 1st floor has Palladian window above entrance and other 1st floor windows with cornices on consoles, that in corner pavilion with pediment framed by similar pilaster order as on Park front, with flanking niches. Exceptional classical interiors,in particular those decorated by Stuart in the west range with the first "Etruscan" room in Europe and important work by Taylor and Holland. Survey of London; vol XXX James Stuart: David Watkin Architectural Review March 1984: "Tracing a Palladio elevation"
Listing NGR: TQ2917480112
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 426523
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Watkin, D, James Stuart, ()
Architectural Review in Architectural Review, (1984)
Survey of London in The Parish of St James Westminster Part 1 South of Piccadilly: Volumes 29 and 30, Vol. 30, (1960)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 16:41:09.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.