The Estate since 1909
In 1909 the freehold of the Trevor estate was sold by Lord
Trevor to James Charlton Humphreys, the iron-buildings
manufacturer, for close on £200,000. The iron-buildings
business, which at one time had occupied the former floorcloth factory in Hill Street (Trevor Place), was now largely
carried on in Pimlico, the company's offices and showrooms remaining at Albert Gate Mansions, on the
detached portion of the estate. Humphreys himself – 'small
in stature … big in business' – was a well-known local figure, not only as an industrialist and property-owner but
also as a member of the Westminster Vestry and a Volunteer officer. (ref. 53)
Humphreys soon determined on a complete rebuilding
of the main part of the estate, where many of the original
leases were shortly to fall in, and in 1911 an architectural
competition was held to find the best redevelopment
scheme. It was won by Horace Field & Simmons and Cyril
Farey: the runners-up were H. S. Goodhart-Rendel (second), Ernest Schaufelberg (third) and W. G. Wilson
(fourth). All of the four premiated designs were similar in
that they retained most of the existing pattern of streets
(while re-aligning or otherwise altering the square itself),
and by their reliance on terraces of tall houses rather than
horizontally planned blocks of flats (though some of these
were planned). The winning scheme was a rather
grandiose affair with a vista along a lengthened Charles
(Trevor) Street to a crescent at the south end of the estate
(Plate 58a). It was not alone in proposing to cut off the
estate entirely from any communication with down-market
Raphael Street (see page 10). (ref. 54)
Figure 34:
Former Harrods depot, Trevor Square, ground-floor plan. Munt and Stephens, architects, 1913–c. 1920
The top four entries showed a taste for classical styles,
and each made use of tall mansard roofs containing one or
two floors. Both the winning design and that by Schaufelberg adhered to a fashionable Beaux-Arts classicism, Wilson, in some contrast, adopting an ornateness reminiscent
of the houses of an earlier generation in and around Princes
Gate. Goodhart-Rendel's own comparatively strippeddown style (making use of windows grouped in threes on
his flats for the sites north of the square, another echo of
Princes Gate) was criticized by the Builder as depending
'too much on its detail, workmanship, and choice of material' for its success.
Despite the competition, no redevelopment scheme was
put in hand, and by 1912 the estate was again on the market. Harrods considered buying it, but the directors backed
away from the idea on the grounds that property speculation was not part of their business, even though it offered
an ideal site for much-needed expansion. However, the
managing director, (Sir) Richard Burbidge, was determined that the opportunity should not be lost altogether,
and as Humphreys was only prepared to consider a sale of
the whole property, more space than Harrods could reasonably require, he formed the Trevor Syndicate Ltd with
a Mr Mendel and another member of the Harrods board,
and Humphreys himself, to acquire the entire freehold.
The site for the Harrods building on the south side of
Arthur Street was then leased from the syndicate in 1913,
together with Nos 2–37 Trevor Square and the west side of
Lancelot Place north of Arthur Street. (ref. 55)
After the First World War, the freehold of most of the
property was sold off, leaving only a fraction in the ownership of the Trevor Estate, successor to the syndicate,
today. (ref. 56)
Former Harrods Depot
In 1913 the entire south side of Arthur Street was leased by
the newly formed Trevor Syndicate Ltd to Harrods for the
construction of a warehouse and depot. All the old houses
(together with the stables and cottages on the east side of
Montpelier Mews) were pulled down for the new building,
which was designed by C. W. Stephens, architect of the
Harrods store in Brompton Road, and his new partner, formerly his assistant, E. J. Munt. Preliminary work, involving demolition, excavation, and making a subway to the
shop under Brompton Road (designed by Harley H. Dalrymple-Hay) was carried out by John Mowlem & Company. Construction, by James Carmichael of Wandsworth,
began in 1913, but the outbreak of war and the building
workers' strike brought it to a stop by late 1914, leaving
only the basements and ground floor usable. Work resumed
in 1919 and was completed by the early 1920s. (ref. 57)
Figure 35:
Former Harrods depot, Trevor Square, north elevation. Munt and Stephens, architects, 1913–c. 1920
Faced with red brick and terracotta, the former Harrods
depot is a building of palatial proportions, designed for a
range of activities including warehousing, packing,
despatch, manufacturing, processing and repair work (figs
34–5; Plate 57c). The production of own-brand goods,
including baking, chocolate-making and tea-blending,
continued there until the 1970s, since when it has been
used largely for storage and garaging. Long-standing plans
to convert the building into the 'Harrods House Hotel',
together with the redevelopment of No. 100 Brompton
Road, are still in abeyance at the time of writing.