Behind a forecourt and facing south at the corner of Deanery St. rises conspicuously Dorchester House, one of the most magnificent mansions in London, built in a dignified Italian Renaissance style in 1851-53 by Vulliamy on the site of an earlier house belonging to the Earls of Dorchester. This mansion, the property of Sir George Holford, has a sumptuous interior, famous for its white marble staircase and noble picture gallery. It contains one of the finest private collections of paintings in London, accessible only by personal introduction to the owner. Dorchester House was the residence of Mr. Whitelaw Reid while American ambassador at the Court of St. James (1905-13). Among the finest paintings are the following:
ITALIAN SCHOOL. Bartolommeo Veneto (not Bramantino), Portrait of a man; Bonifazio, Madonna and Child with saints; Canaletto, Piazzetta from the Lagoon; Cariani, Portrait of a man; Garofalo, Madonna in Glory; Gaudenzio Ferrari, Holy Family with Cardinal Taverna; Guardi, View from the Piazzetta; B. Licinio, Portrait; Lotto (Giulio Campi ?), Lady with a lap-dog; Pesellino, Madonna and saints; Polidoro (not Titian), Holy Family; Romenino (not Titian), Lady of the Sforza family; Rondinelli (not Bellini), Portrait of a boy; Sodoma, Holy Family; Tintoretto, Portrait (1548); Titian (Beccaruzzi ?), Doge Andrea Gritti; Tura, Eleonora d'Aragon.
FLEMISH SCHOOL. Mabuse, Portrait of a man; Rubens, Erection of the Cross, Head of a young woman, Beheading of St. Paul; Teniers, Skittle-players; Van Dyck,Marchesa Balbi (a masterpiece of the Genoese period), Abbe Scaglia (1635).
DUTCH SCHOOL. north Berchem, 'Le diamant de la curiosite'; Ciques, Portrait; A. Cuyp, The Mass at Dordrecht (once divided into two parts); Hobbema, Forest scene, Potter, Rabbit-warren; Rembrandt, Martin Looten (1632). The artist holding a sword (1644), Lady in a chair (1645), Titus, the artist's son (1658); A. van Ostade, Travellers at an inn, Cottage-interior, Peasanta in a cottage; Wouverman, Returning from market, Ships unloading, Riding at the Herring.
FRENCH SCHOOL. Claude, River at sunset; Pater, The swing.
SPANISH SCHOOL. south Coello, Isabella Clara Eugenia, Governess of the Netherlands; Murillo, Luis de Haro, Girl; Velazques, Philip IV. The Saloon contains a magnificant Mantelpiece of Carrars marble, by Alfred Stevens (1817-75), who at irregular interval worked for many years on the decorations of Dorchester House. He also completed a buffet and designed the painted ceiling and alcove.
In South Street, the next turning on the right, C. J. Fox lived at No. 9 in 1792-96, and Lord Melbourne at No. 39, when prime minister, in 1835-41, while No. 10 was the home of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). From 28 Aldford St. (then 23 Chapel St.), the next side-street, Harriet Westbrook eloped with Shelley in 1811.
