May 25, 2010

by Stefan Buczacki

This is an update on a featured article in Finest Hour 103, kindly provided by Mr. Buczacki, author of the excellent new book Churchill & Chartwell, reviewed in the same issue of Finest Hour.

This list is as complete and accurate as I can make it. More complete details, including the holiday homes where the Churchills stayed with friends and also London hotels, used as short-term accommodation, are in my book. Overseas holiday residences are excluded. There are overlaps in several dates when more than one house was owned, leased or lived in at the same time. Dates are essentially those of ownership, not necessarily when the Churchills actually moved in or left. Please note that most London houses are in practice held on long-term leases rather than strictly owned as freeholds and usually belong to institutions or Trusts.

Primary Residences of WSC: owned, leased or provided officially

48 Charles Street (January 1874—1879). Leased by Lord Randolph Churchill.

The Little Lodge, Dublin (January 1877—April 1880). Official residence of Lord Randolph Churchill.

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29 St. James’s Place (April 1880—late 1882). Leased by Lord Randolph Churchill.

2 Connaught Place (late 1882—1892). Leased by Lord Randolph Churchill. The family moved into Duchess Fanny’s at 50 Grosvenor Square (see below), where Lord Randolph died in 1895.

105 Mount Street (1900—late 1905). Leased by WSC; his first bachelor flat.

12 Bolton Street (December 1905—March 1909). Leased by WSC, the first house of his own and became his first married home.

33 Eccleston Square (Spring 1909—May 1918). Not lived in between May 1915 and late 1916, since it was leased to Lord Grey from 1913. First house purchased by WSC after his marriage.

Admiralty House (April 1913—May 1915). Official residence, available to WSC from 1911 but not lived in until 1913.

Ministry of Munitions house, probably in Whitehall Place (May 1918—late 1918 or early 1919). Accommodation officially provided to the Minister of Munitions.

1 Dean Trench Street (early 1919—early 1920). Rented from the Hon. Victoria Adeane.

2 Hyde Park Street (late summer 1919—May 1920). Purchased by WSC but never lived in.

2 Sussex Square (November 1919—January 1925). Owned by WSC. Lived in from February 1920 to 1924, then leased, and finally sold in February 1925. Demolished following irreparable bomb damage sustained in March 1941.

11 Downing Street (January 1924—April 1929). Official residence.

11 Morpeth Mansions (late November/early December 1931—late 1939). Leased by WSC.

Admiralty House (September 1939—July 1940). Official residence.

10 Downing Street & Number Ten Annexe (early summer 1940—July 1945). Official residences.

28 Hyde Park Gate (September 1945—1965). Combined with 27 Hyde Park Gate from August 1946. Owned by WSC but subdivided and let while the family lived at 10 Downing Street.

10 Downing Street (December 1951—April 1955). Official residence.

Family or Friends’ Loans or Shares

50 Grosvenor Square (1892—1895). Owned by Duchess Fanny. Now demolished.

35a Great Cumberland Place (1895—1900). Owned by Lady Randolph Churchill.

10 Carlton House Terrace (January—February 1908). Owned and loaned by Lord and Lady Ridley.

22 Carlton House Terrace (March—May 1909). Owned and loaned by Freddie Guest.

21 Arlington Street (May—late July 1915; CSC until October). Owned and loaned by Ivor Guest.

72 Brook Street (July 1915—November 1915). Owned by Lady Randolph Churchill.

41 Cromwell Road (October/November 1915—Autumn 1916). Owned by and shared with Jack and Goonie Churchill.

16 Lower Berkeley Street (September—November 1918). Now Fitzhardinge Street. Owned and loaned by Lady Horner.

3 Tenterden Street (Autumn 1918) Owned and loaned by Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill. Now demolished.

Templeton, Roehampton (Late October 1919—February 1920). Owned and loaned by Freddie Guest.

62 Onslow Gardens (Winter 1929 and probably Winter 1930). Owned and loaned by Venetia Montagu.

67 Westminster Gardens (July 1945—September 1945). Leased and loaned by Diana and Duncan Sandys.

Country Houses

Lullenden, East Grinstead, West Sussex (February 1917—November 1919). Owned by WSC.

Chartwell, Westerham, Kent (November 1922 to 1965). Lived in from around April 1924. Owned by WSC; officially owned by the National Trust after WW2.

Chequers (early summer 1940—July 1945; December 1951—April 1955). Official residence.

Holiday Homes

Leased or rented by the family (as opposed to the homes of friends with whom they stayed without charge for holidays). Properties rented by Clementine with Goonie and/or Jack are excluded if Winston is not known to have visited them.

Banstead Manor, Newmarket (holidays of 1889-1902). Leased by Lord Randolph Churchill.

Pear Tree Cottage, Overstrand, near Cromer, Norfolk (Summer 1914). Rented by WSC jointly with Jack.

Hoe Farm, Godalming, Surrey (Summer 1915). Rented by WSC jointly with Jack.

Maryland, Frinton on Sea, Essex (Summer 1921). Rented by Clementine.