Blog Post No.29
London’s Great Estates… Howard de Walden
The first in our series on london’s great estates
13 / 04 / 2021
In 1711 The Duke of Newcastle bought a sleepy village near London for £17,000.
Today that village is quietly known as the Howard de Walden estate, it’s worth £5billion and is home to the world famous Harley Street.
Join us, for the first in our series on London’s Great Estates, as we discover the story of one of prime central’s most successful developments.
The new estate didn’t get off to the best start, just three months after his £17,000 investment (worth £3million in today’s money) the Duke of Newcastle died.
The estate was developed slowly, lagging behind the fashionable west London estates, until the charismatic Lady Margaret Harley took over in 1741.
Lady Margaret was the richest woman in Britain (incidentally she’s also Queen Elizabeth’s great grandmother) and a prominent social reformer.
She laid the blueprint for the Marylebone of today by lining the streets with elegant Georgian architecture, building hospitals and expansive squares, and improving education opportunities for women.
In 1879 the Howard de Walden family inherited and renamed the estate. They rebuilt Marylebone high street and encouraged doctors to take advantage of Harley Street’s Georgian houses and nearby hospitals. By the 1940s, 1,500 doctors had moved in.
Today the estate is still owned by the Howard de Walden family, with famous film producer Peter Czernin set to inherit the title. The current custodians have transformed Marylebone Village into an upmarket retail area and continue to build on Lady Margaret’s pivotal investments in medical excellence and education.
Today that village is quietly known as the Howard de Walden estate, it’s worth £5billion and is home to the world famous Harley Street.
Join us, for the first in our series on London’s Great Estates, as we discover the story of one of prime central’s most successful developments.
The new estate didn’t get off to the best start, just three months after his £17,000 investment (worth £3million in today’s money) the Duke of Newcastle died.
The estate was developed slowly, lagging behind the fashionable west London estates, until the charismatic Lady Margaret Harley took over in 1741.
Lady Margaret was the richest woman in Britain (incidentally she’s also Queen Elizabeth’s great grandmother) and a prominent social reformer.
She laid the blueprint for the Marylebone of today by lining the streets with elegant Georgian architecture, building hospitals and expansive squares, and improving education opportunities for women.
In 1879 the Howard de Walden family inherited and renamed the estate. They rebuilt Marylebone high street and encouraged doctors to take advantage of Harley Street’s Georgian houses and nearby hospitals. By the 1940s, 1,500 doctors had moved in.
Today the estate is still owned by the Howard de Walden family, with famous film producer Peter Czernin set to inherit the title. The current custodians have transformed Marylebone Village into an upmarket retail area and continue to build on Lady Margaret’s pivotal investments in medical excellence and education.