Did you know that...
Paul McCartney lived in an 18th century house on Wimpole Street, Marylebone for two years. John Lennon worked on “I Want to Hold Your Hand” song on a piano in the basement of the same house. Charles Babbage the scientist who invented the analytical machine lived on Dorset Street.
The Gargoyle Club in Soho was frequented by famous artists such as dancer and singer Fred Astaire, artist Henri Matisse, playwright Noel Coward, painter Lucian Freud, actress Hermione Baddeley, novelist Graham Green, model Henrietta Moraes, and photographer Lee Miller.
Mayfair, Marylebone and Soho are home to some of the most luxurious five-star hotels, famous auction houses, and reputed art galleries in London. Claridge’s Hotel was the place where European royalty took exile during the World War II. Famous people from the movie industry such as Gary Grant, Brad Pitt, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, and Joan Collins stayed at this hotel. The Ritz, one of the most well-known names in the hotel industry, opened its doors for the high society in 1906.
Sotheby’s and Bonhams auction houses can be found here. The Fine Art Society was founded in Mayfair in 1876. The Royal Academy of Arts is in this area as well.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was born in 17 Bruton Street at her maternal grandfather’s London home and lived in Mayfair during her infant years.
The founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale lived and died at a house on South Street in Mayfair.
Prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli, Sir Robert Peel, and Sir Henry Pelham lived in the area at different times.
Composer George Frideric Handel and musician, Britain’s most famous band The Beatle’s, as well as guitarist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, spent a number of years living in the area.
World-famous writer and novelist Charles Dickens, famous 18th-century poet William Blake, famous British journalist Jeffrey Bernard, novelist William Somerset Maugham, dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan – they all lived in this affluent area at one time or another.
