St James's Square Garden

St James's Square Garden began in the sixteen-sixties as a bold real estate gamble by Henry Jermyn, the first Earl of St Albans. He envisioned this space as the centerpiece of an elite residential district designed to attract the highest ranks of the British aristocracy. By securing a rare freehold grant from King Charles the Second, Jermyn bypassed the standard leasehold system of the time and created a destination for nobles who wanted property close to the royal palaces of Whitehall and St James's. Within decades, it became a concentrated hub of political power, eventually housing as many as fifteen British Prime Ministers across its various grand townhouses.