Admiralty House, London

Admiralty House in London is a Grade I listed^[2] building facing Whitehall, currently used for government functions and as ministerial flats.

Admiralty House
The staircase hall of Admiralty House
General information
Location	Westminster
Address	Whitehall
Town or city	London, SW1
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′19.8″N 0°7′38.64″W
Construction started	1786
Completed	1788[1]
Client	First Lord of the Admiralty
Owner	His Majesty's Government
Technical details
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Samuel Pepys Cockerell[1]
Awards and prizes	Grade I listed building

Description

Admiralty House is a four-storey building of yellow brick. The front has a symmetrical facade of three broad bays and one additional small bay at the southern end. The rear facade is of five bays and faces Horse Guards Parade, with a basement-level exit under the corner of the Old Admiralty Building. The front of the house faces Whitehall. It is accessed from the older Ripley Building, to which it is connected.^[2]

History

Admiralty House was constructed on the site of two seventeenth century houses; Walsingham House, the London residence of Lady Walsingham, and Pickering House, residence of Sir Gilbert Pickering.^[1]

Admiralty House was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, a protégé of Sir Robert Taylor, and opened in 1788.^[2] Built at the request of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1782–1783 for "a few small rooms of my own", it was the official residence of First Lord of the Admiralty until 1964, and has also been home to several British prime ministers at times when 10 Downing Street was being renovated.^[3]

Winston Churchill lived in the house while serving as First Lord of the Admiralty for two terms, 1911–1915 and 1939–1940. It now contains government function rooms and three ministerial flats.^[4]

It is usually open to the public during Open House London.

See also

• Admiralty buildings