Apsley House

Apsley House is famously known as Number One London because it stood as the first residence travelers encountered after passing through the toll gates at Knightsbridge when entering the city from the countryside. Built in the late eighteenth century for Lord Chancellor Henry Bathurst, the house was eventually purchased by the first Duke of Wellington in 1817. He turned the building into a grand symbol of his status following his victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo. Today, the mansion remains the London home of the Dukes of Wellington and preserves a rare example of an aristocratic townhouse from the nineteenth century.