The same rational attributes cannot be assigned, however, to Henry Hope’s son-in-law, the roguish Henry Pelham-Clinton, the 6th Duke of Newcastle. When the Duke wed Hope’s only daughter, Henrietta, his spiralling gambling debts (around £230,000 – an eye-watering £143 million today) were settled and he acquired an impressive property portfolio to boot. When he died aged just 45, Henrietta sold Hope House to the fashionable Junior Athenaeum Club.
Gentlemen’s clubs were all the rage in the Victorian era, and the Junior Athenaeum surged in popularity as it entertained the great and good of London society. Among the MPs and Lords that passed through its doors, the club was particularly favoured by gentlemen connected with literature, science and art.
The word ‘Athenaeum’ loosely translates as ‘library’ and is derived from the Greek name Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The noble name stayed at 116 Piccadilly in the 1930s as the club disbanded and the building was transformed into a luxurious Art Deco apartment block.
Four decades later, the Athenaeum and its neighbouring Victorian townhouses were snapped up by British entertainment group The Rank Organisation. The company renovated the apartments into an iconic hotel to accommodate its movie stars whenever they were filming at London’s famous Pinewood and Ealing Studios.
