Grosvenor Place is the main road connecting Hyde Park Corner with Victoria.
It forms the eastern boundary of Belgravia, extending south from St. George’s Hospital (which later became the Lanesborough Hotel) and overlooking the gardens of Buckingham Palace. It was at the beginning of the nineteenth century described as "a pleasant row of houses".
When George III added a portion of Green Park to his new garden at Buckingham House, he sold the fields on the opposite side of the road for £20,000. The ground was consequently leased to builders, and a new row of houses was erected "overlooking the king in his private walks, to his great annoyance."
In maps of London dating from the beginning of the nineteenth century, the whole of the future site of Belgravia, between Grosvenor Place and Sloane Street, appears still covered with fields. In the centre of Grosvenor Place, at that time, stood the Lock Hospital, which was founded in 1787 by the Rev. Thomas Scott.
This area of countryside was originally known as Five Fields, and became a dangerous place for highwaymen and robberies. It was developed in the early 19th century by Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster under the direction of Thomas Cubitt, focusing on numerous grand terraces centred on Belgrave Square and Eaton Square.
During the years 1873–76 the appearance of a large section of Grosvenor Place was changed. In place of some dozen or so houses which formerly stood at the north end, five princely mansions were erected. Moving in to these were the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of Northumberland, Earl Stanhope and the head of the Rothschild family.
At the north end of Grosvenor Place, St. George’s Hospital was built upon the site of a suburban residence of the first Lord Lanesborough, who died in 1723.
At No. 17, in the twenty first century, stands the embassy of the Republic of Ireland.
