Lancaster House: London’s Greatest Town House

In 1825 the Duke of York commissioned the architects Benjamin and Philip Wyatt to construct a house impressive enough to rival and, if possible, outshine other town houses such as Montagu, Dorchester and Spencer Houses. It was then called York House but by 1827, when the Duke died, it was still only an empty shell, and after some trouble the seriously rich Marquis of Stafford acquired it. In 1828 he renamed it Stafford House, and so it remained for the rest of the century and beyond. Stafford was created Duke of Sutherland in 1833 but survived the elevation only six...