Mansion Gallery

The Scott Key Mansion, Washington DC, USA

The Scott Key Mansion, Washington DC, USA. Home of Francis Scott Key, author of Star Spangled Banner - located at 3518 M Street, N. W. The one-storey annex at the right was his law ofice. It was razed in 1948 because plans for the Whitehurst Freeway called for the site to be used as a connecting ramp with Key Bridge. Date: circa 1907

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

The Grand Staircase in Dorchester House

Interior of Dorchester House at the time it was the residence of the American Ambassador in London, Mr Whitelaw Reid. Located on Park Lane, it was designed by Lewis Vulliamy for Robert Holford, built on the site of an earlier house belonging to the Earls of Dorchester in 1851 - 53. It was the residence of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, American Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, from 1905-13 and served as a hospital during World War I. One of the most impressive and palatial mansions in London, It contained a fine picture gallery, library and was particularly noted for its grand staircase. The house was sold in 1929 and demolished to make way for the Dorchester Hotel. Date: 1906

© Mary Evans Picture Library

ILN front cover, 12 July 1862 - Alice & Louis Hesse

Front cover of The Illustrated London News for 12th July 1862, featuring St. Clare on the Isle of Wight. St Clare, near Ryde on the Isle of Wight, the family seat of the Vernon-Harcourt family. A castellated mansion with extensive grounds and a view across to Portsmouth on the mainland, it was often visted by Queen Victoria and Albert. Princess Alice, the Queens daughter, stayed there with her husband Prince Louis of Hesse on their honeymoon following their wedding at Osborne House on 2 July 1862. St Clare house has since been demolished. Date: 1862

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans