Duke of Westminster

Country seats

The Duke of Westminster's seats are at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, and at Abbeystead House, Lancashire. Halkyn Castle was built as a sporting lodge for the family in the early 1800s.

The traditional burial place of the Dukes is the Old Churchyard adjacent to St Mary's Church, Eccleston.

London residences

Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster purchased the London townhouse of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Gloucester House at No. 33 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair for £20,000 in 1805, and took up residence at the property in 1808, after which the property was known as Grosvenor House. The house underwent a series of renovations and extensions during the Nineteenth century, and during its period of ownership by Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster it had become one of the largest private houses in London.^[7][8]

The 1st Duke was predeceased by his eldest son Victor, Earl Grosvenor, who died in 1884; in 1885 the 1st Duke reserved one of the Grosvenor Estate houses in London, No. 35 Park Lane for the use of his widowed daughter-in-law Sibell, Countess Grosvenor. The house underwent £12,000 worth of renovations from 1885-86, and in 1887 Sibell took up residence at the house, where she lived with her three young children Lady Constance Grosvenor, Lady Lettice Grosvenor, Hugh, Earl Grosvenor (later 2nd Duke of Westminster), and her second husband George Wyndham. Sibell continued to reside at 35 Park Lane until her death in 1929; the house was later re-numbered as 99 Park Lane.^[9]

Following the 1st Duke's death in December 1899 Grosvenor House was inherited by his grandson Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, who continued to maintain the house as his London residence prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.^[8]: 223 By December 1916 the House had ceased to be used as a private residence,^[10] and was requisitioned by the British Government as offices for sections of the Ministry of Food. Following the conclusion of the War the 2nd Duke did not resume occupation of Grosvenor House; his second-cousin George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland reportedly expressed some interest in leasing Grosvenor House, but it was instead eventually leased to the Dowager Lady Michelham in 1919.^[8]: 223 In 1924 the lease of Grosvenor House was purchased by William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme who planned to turn the property into a National Art Gallery; however his death in 1925 prevented this.^[8]: 223 Grosvenor House was later demolished in 1927 and replaced by the Grosvenor House Hotel, which opened in 1929.^[11]

Following the closure of Grosvenor House, the 2nd Duke used a smaller house on the Grosvenor Estate, Bourdon House on the corner of Davies Street and Bourdon Street in Mayfair as his London residence from 1917, which continued to be his London home until his death in 1953. His widowed fourth wife, Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster continued to occupy the house until 1957.^[12]

Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster maintained an apartment at No. 100 Eaton Square from c. 1970 until his death in 1979,^[13] which continued to be used as the London residence of his son Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster as of 2015.^[14]

• London residences of the Dukes of Westminster
• 
  Grosvenor House, No. 33 Upper Grosvenor Street, the London residence of the Marquesses and Dukes of Westminster from 1808 to 1916.
• 
  No. 99 Park Lane (formerly No. 35), granted to the widowed Sibell, Countess Grosvenor from 1885 to 1929, and childhood home of her son Hugh, Earl Grosvenor (later 2nd Duke of Westminster).
• 
  Bourdon House, Davies Street, the London residence of the 2nd Duke of Westminster from 1917 to 1953.