I must have passed Lutyens's Central Club without knowing it. En route to the British Museum, it's now the Bloomsbury Hotel-and I should have guessed its architect from the ‘Wrenaissance' doorcase, with upside down obelisks on the first floor. Decoration of this red-brick, sash-windowed building is otherwise restrained: there was no money to spare on a project funded by a public appeal (‘be a brick and buy a brick' was one of the slogans).
Associated with the Young Women's Christian Association, it opened in 1932. As well as bedrooms, the Central Club offered two restaurants, club rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, a library, a swimming pool, a hairdresser, a gymnasium, a cafeteria (self-service), an employment bureau and a 400-seat concert hall.
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As Marion Crawford, Princess Elizabeth's governess, recalled, ‘Lilibet' visited after an adventure on the Underground during which she and Princess Margaret Rose had bought their own tickets. Tea was drunk from thick mugs and the lady in charge ‘bawled' at Lilibet for leaving her teapot behind.
The building is now run as the Bloomsbury by the Doyle family of hoteliers and they'll be throwing open the doors during Open House London this weekend, with bespoke talks offered by the architect's great-nephew Martin Lutyens.
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A Hampshire Manor for sale that dates back to the days of Alfred the Great, with the most beautiful staircase we've seen in yearsThe ten bedroom property features an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa complex and stables, and it was restored by the same architect who worked on Downing Street.
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'Champagne is not simply a place, it’s a symbol of excellence': How a quiet rural region shrugged off war, famine and pestilence to become the home of the ultimate luxury tippleTen years ago today the French region was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but what did it take for Champagne to be listed and what’s changed for the area since then?
