# Montpelier Square

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{{Short description|Square in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
Many of the houses along the northern side of the square and the face of one of an adjoining street|thumb
'''Montpelier Square''' is a residential garden square in [Knightsbridge](/source/Knightsbridge), [London](/source/London), and is administratively in the [City of Westminster](/source/City_of_Westminster).  The homes were built in the 19th century and are of brick construction, partly covered with stucco. All of the buildings facing inwards are listed [grade II](/source/Grade_II_listed_building) (the mainstream, initial category) in the [heritage listing](/source/heritage_listing) scheme used in England.

==History, extent, listing details and value==
From a point in [Plantagenet England](/source/Plantagenet_England) until 1955, Kensington's eastern spur was thinner, amounting to [Brompton](/source/Brompton%2C_London) (a forlorn term for a wedge of Knightsbridge to the south).<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10086462/boundary Limits of South Kensington Civil and of Ancient Parish] Vision of Britain. The University of Portsmouth and others.</ref> Instead these easterly fields of Kensington Gore reaching north to nearly [the Serpentine](/source/the_Serpentine) and going past its [hamlet hub](/source/hamlet_(place)) to the fence of [the Palace (formerly royal manor)](/source/Kensington_Palace) then from 1901 to [Kensington Church Street](/source/Kensington_Church_Street)) presented the largest exclave within [Ossulstone](/source/Ossulstone) (the [Kensington Gore](/source/Kensington_Gore) detached part of [St Margaret Westminster](/source/St_Margaret_Westminster)).<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10164412/boundary Limits of Westminster St Margaret Civil and of Ancient Parish] Vision of Britain. The University of Portsmouth and others.</ref>

Internally, excluding small porches, the square measures {{convert|260|ft}} by {{convert|200|ft}}. Private [communal garden](/source/communal_garden)s, to centre, measure {{convert|0.2|ha|acre|abbr=off}}.<ref name='LPGT'>{{cite web|title=Montpelier Square|url=https://londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=WST066|work=London Gardens Online – Montpelier Square|publisher=London Parks & Gardens Trust|access-date=29 January 2019}}</ref>

Grade II listing of 44 Montpelier Street, one of two southern approach ways, means that all houses within two-house-fronts of directly facing the square plus those &ndash; all classical houses, whether internally converted to flats &ndash; facing it are listed buildings.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1223456|desc=44 Montpelier Street}}</ref> 1–17, 17a–43 are [listed Grade II](/source/Listed_building) on the [National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England) for their architectural merit.<ref name="NHLE1-7">{{NHLE|num=1223388|desc=1–7 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE8-16">{{NHLE|num=1223344|desc=8–16 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE17a">{{NHLE|num=1223400|desc=17a Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE17-25">{{NHLE|num=1223409|desc=17–25 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE26">{{NHLE|num=1223410|desc=26 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE27-35">{{NHLE|num=1267311|desc=27–35 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="NHLE36-43">{{NHLE|num=1223412|desc=36–43 Montpelier Square|access-date=29 January 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref> No.s 44 to 47, forming the eastern approach way (there is also a fourth approach way which is to the west) are not listed.

Average full houses, on long leases, of the square cost £8.2 million in 2018.<ref name='Zoopla'>{{cite web|title=
House prices in Montpelier Square, London SW7|url=https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/london/montpelier-square/
|publisher=[Zoopla](/source/Zoopla)|accessdate=29 January 2019}}</ref>

In 2007, the ''[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)'' saw the square a strong 'street of success' where 'the capital's corporate power brokers choose to make their homes'. The square ranked equally, 36th, as to declared housing of directors of companies with a turnover of more than £10 million.<ref name=ES07>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/where-the-highest-fliers-love-to-live-6619836.html|title=Where the highest fliers love to live|date=2 November 2007|author=Hugo Duncan|work=[The Evening Standard](/source/The_Evening_Standard)|accessdate=29 January 2019}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
*Writer Robert S. Hitchens in 1891, and was later home to the Hungarian writer [Arthur Koestler](/source/Arthur_Koestler) and his third wife, Cynthia. Koestler and his wife committed suicide at the house in 1983 - No.8.<ref name='LPGT'/>
*[Joyce Grenfell](/source/Joyce_Grenfell) (née Phipps) was born at No.29 on 10 February 1910.<ref>London, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923 for Joyce Irene Phipps</ref>
*Actress and dancer [Leslie Caron](/source/Leslie_Caron) (with theatre director, her husband [Peter Hall](/source/Peter_Hall_(director)) and children) in the 1960s. Her home was mapped in an April 1966 article in ''[TIME](/source/Time_(magazine))'' magazine that popularised the phrase the 'swinging Sixties' - No.31.<ref name='LPGT'/>
*Actor Walter Lacey and his wife, also an actor between 1852 and 1860 - No.38.<ref name='LPGT'/>
*Architect [Matthew Digby Wyatt](/source/Matthew_Digby_Wyatt) in 1851 - at No.40.<ref name='LPGT'/>
*In 1856 members of the [Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood](/source/Pre-Raphaelite_Brotherhood) who edited ''[The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine](/source/The_Oxford_and_Cambridge_Magazine)'', founded by [William Morris](/source/William_Morris). It was the home of Wilfred Heeley, whose visitors included [Edward Burne-Jones](/source/Edward_Burne-Jones) and [William Fulford](/source/William_Fulford); they met and lodged at "20" (now No.18).<ref name='LPGT'/>

[Helen Cecelia Black](/source/Helen_Cecelia_Black) visited [Mrs. Lovett Cameron](/source/Mrs._Lovett_Cameron) at her such home for her book ''Notable Women Authors of the Day: Biographical sketches'' and described the rich interior of Cameron's house.<ref name="Black1972">{{cite book|author=Helen C. Black|title=Notable Women Authors of the Day: Biographical Sketches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkSpo5funNEC|year=1972|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=978-1-4655-1855-2|page=79}}</ref>

[Victor Lownes](/source/Victor_Lownes) lived at No.&nbsp;3 in the 1960s; [Christine Keeler](/source/Christine_Keeler) attended a party there in 1966 where she was spiked with [LSD](/source/LSD). [Roman Polanski](/source/Roman_Polanski) and [Stuart Whitman](/source/Stuart_Whitman) were also guests at the party.<ref name="KeelerThompson2014">{{cite book|author1=Christine Keeler|author2=Douglas Thompson|title=Secrets and Lies – The Real Story of Political Scandal That Mesmerised the World – The Profumo Affair|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yH_wAgAAQBAJ|date=3 March 2014|publisher=John Blake Publishing|isbn=978-1-78219-961-8|page=224}}</ref> [The Beatles](/source/The_Beatles) also went to parties at Lownes's house.<ref name="SchreudersLewisohn2008">{{cite book|author1=Piet Schreuders|author2=[Mark Lewisohn](/source/Mark_Lewisohn)|author3=Adam Smith|title=Beatles London: The Ultimate Guide to Over 400 Beatles Sites in and Around London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2N53-a3FafQC|date=25 March 2008|publisher=Pavilion Books|isbn=978-1-906032-26-5}}</ref>

The dancer [Michael Flatley](/source/Michael_Flatley) sold his house for £7.2 million in 2015.<ref name=ITVJune15>{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-06-05/dancing-all-the-way-to-the-bank-michael-flatley-sells-london-home-for-bumper-profit/|title=Dancing all the way to the bank: Michael Flatley sells London home for bumper profit|date=7 June 2015|work=[ITV News](/source/ITV_News)|accessdate=4 February 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Montpelier Square, London}}
*[https://www.montpeliersquare.org.uk/ Montpelier Square Garden Committee]

{{coord|51.5002|-0.1665|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster
Category:Grade II listed houses in London
Category:Brompton, London
Category:Squares in the City of Westminster
Category:Knightsbridge
Category:Garden squares in London
Category:Communal gardens

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Montpelier Square](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpelier_Square) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpelier_Square?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.