Wohngebaude Im Vereinigten Konigreich - Albany, Cothelstone Manor, Bishop Lloyd's House (English, German, Paperback)

Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: The Albany or Albany (since the mid-20th century some sources have claimed that the article is not in use among the fashionable) is an apartment complex in Piccadilly, London, England. The Albany was built 1770-1774 by Sir William Chambers for Viscount Melbourne, as Melbourne House. It is a three-storey mansion seven bays (windows) wide, with a pair of service wings flanking a front courtyard. In 1791, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany abandoned Dover House, Whitehall (now a government office) and took up residence. In 1802 the duke gave up the house and it was converted into 69 bachelor apartments (known as "sets"). This was achieved not only by subdividing the main block and the two service wings, but also by adding two parallel sets of buildings running the length of the garden. Since its conversion, the Albany has been the best known and most prestigious set of bachelor apartments in London. The residents have included such famous names as the poet Lord Byron and the future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, and numerous members of the aristocracy. Nonetheless, occupants have been known to complain that the accommodation is often rather cramped. Residents no longer have to be bachelors. About half of the freehold of the Albany is now owned by Peterhouse, a small Cambridge College. The Albany is governed by a Board of Trustees. Rents are well below commercial levels and the apartments or "sets" are rumored to be allocated on the basis of social connections. There has been dispute as to whether the name of the building is "Albany" or "the Albany." The rules adopted in 1804 laid down that "the Premises mentioned in the foregoing Articles shall be called Albany." However, nineteenth-century sources refer to it as "the Albany," such as the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde which repeatedly refers to the character Jack Worthing's residence at "the Albany," and in Charles Dickens's novel Our Mutual Friend. Raffles, the gentleman thief in