London’s Great Estates: The Howard de Walden Estate

Property has remained a consistent store of wealth and influence, with several historic estates continuing to define the character and value of central neighbourhoods.

Among the most significant is the Howard de Walden Estate. The estate owns, manages and leases around 92 acres in Marylebone. Its boundaries run from Marylebone Road in the north to Wigmore Street in the south, with Portland Place to the east and Marylebone High Street to the west. This concentration of ownership has allowed the estate to guide the area’s architectural identity and commercial mix over many generations.

Marylebone itself takes its name from St Mary’s Church on Marylebone Road, originally built beside a small stream or ‘bourne’. Today it is one of prime central London’s most desirable districts.

Much of the property now held by the Howard de Walden Estate traces its origins to the work of eighteenth-century architect John Prince. Commissioned by the Earl of Oxford, who owned part of the manor of Tyburn, Prince produced a masterplan for a new residential district centred on Cavendish Square. His first layout was completed in 1719, although development progressed slowly after the South Sea Bubble of 1720 disrupted the finances of major landowning families.

Following the Earl’s death in 1741, the estate passed to his daughter Margaret, who had married the second Duke of Portland. The Portland family continued the building programme and oversaw the creation of properties on Portland Place, Wimpole Street and Harley Street. By the 1790s, the area stretching from Oxford Street to what is now Marylebone Road had been completed.

The Adam brothers, two of the leading architects of the period, were commissioned to design Chandos House on Queen Anne Street along with houses in Mansfield Street and Portland Place. John Nash later referred to Portland Place as “the most magnificent street in London”.

The Portland Estate remained in family ownership until 1879, when Lucy Joan Bentinck, widow of the 6th Baron Howard de Walden, inherited the land. At this point it became known as the Howard de Walden Estate.

In the1990s the area had fallen into decline, with a third of the shops vacant. In undertaking redevelopment and regeneration of the area, the de Walden Estate breathed new life into it, both as a residential and commercial centre and continue to be excellent stewards for this increasingly famous area of central London.

Despite being located only moments from Oxford Street and firmly in the centre of a large city Marylebone has retained a ‘village’ feel. The carefully curated high street, with its diverse range of independent and specialist retailers is a key attraction for residents and businesses alike, with the regular Sunday farmers’ market adding to its appeal.

The broader area of Marylebone also offers a range of cultural attractions, from Madame Tussaud’s waxwork museum and the Sherlock Homes museum near Baker Street to Wigmore Hall, The Wallis Collection and RIBA on Portland Place.

Marylebone’s property is increasing desirable and luxurious, with the majority being in period buildings or behind period facades. The advent of such new and contemporary developments as The Chilterns, Chiltern Place and more recently the West One has increased housing stock and seen new houses in Marylebone for the first time in many decades.