Two Temple Place

Two Temple Place was built in the eighteen nineties by William Waldorf Astor, an American billionaire who relocated his life and fortune to London. Astor was obsessed with his own security and famously terrified of the possibility that his children might be kidnapped. He commissioned this building specifically to serve as a private, secure office for managing his massive estate, and he famously gave his architect an unlimited budget to complete it. He chose this quiet, tucked-away site near the river because he wanted a discreet headquarters that could protect his assets and provide a safe retreat from public scrutiny.