The north east side of Belgrave Square soon after construction

Belgrave Square is one of the grandest 19th century squares in London. It is a centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the the 2nd Earl Grosvenor in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. There is a village called Belgrave two miles from the Grosvenor famliy's main country seat, Eaton Hall (Cheshire) in Cheshire, so the square is presumably named for that. Belgravia is a district in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south-west of Buckingham Palace. ... Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855) was an architect and builder who specialised in the late Georgian and early Regency styles. ... The title of Duke of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Richard Grosvenor, the 3rd Marquess of Westminster. ... Belgrave may be: Belgrave, England a suburb of Leicester. ... This 1826 print shows the entrance front of William Pordens Eaton Hall. ... This article is about the English county. ...

The square consists of four terraces, each made up of eleven very grand white stuccoed houses; detached mansions in three of the corners; and a private central garden. The terraces were designed by George Basevi and are possibly the grandest houses ever built in London on a speculative basis. The largest of the corner mansions, Seaford House in the south east corner, was designed by Philip Hardwick, and the one in the north west corner was designed by Sir Robert Smirke. Elias George Basevi (1 April 1794-16 October 1845) was an English architect famous for designing buildings such as the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. ... Sir Philip Hardwick (1792-1870) was an architect (son of architect Thomas Hardwick) particularly associated with transport-related buildings (eg: railway stations, warehouses) in London and elsewhere. ... Sir Robert Smirke (1781-1867) was a leading 19th century British architect. ...

From its construction until World War II the square was occupied by leading members of the British aristocracy, with an increasing number of plutocrats added to the mix in later decades. It is also, and remains to this day, the home of a number of embassies, including the German Embassy, which occupies three houses on the west side. After World War II most of the houses were converted into offices for charities and institutes. This is now being reversed, with leases of three houses being offered for sale and conversion to residential use by the Grosvenor Estate in 2004. The present Duke of Westminster remains the freeholder of the square. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ... This article or section should include material from Tenancy agreement A lease is a contract conveying from one person (the lessor) to another person (the lessee) the right to use and control some article of property for a specified period of time (the term), without conveying ownership, in exchange for... Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, OBE (born December 22, 1951) married Natalia Ayesha Phillips in 1978. ... Freehold is a term used in real estate or real property law, land held in fee simple, as opposed to leasehold, which is land which is leased. ...

Source

Georgian London, by John Summerson. 1988 edition. ISBN 0-7126-2095-8