Forbes House, Belgravia

It was built in the early-mid 19th century,[1] and was originally called Mortimer House after Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, for whom the house was built.

[2] Forbes House was used to depict an Eastern European embassy, and Doris Day sang "Que Sera Sera" in the ballroom, in Alfred Hitchcock's film, The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In 2012, The Guardian reported that it had been bought by David and Frederick Barclay through "offshore entities in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands (BVI)", and that they had spent £48 million, and the house would provide a London base for Sir David Barclay's son, Aidan Barclay.

[6] Forbes House was bought by Forbes House Ltd, registered in the BVI with a £48m loan, and a subsidiary company, the Jersey-registered Halkin St Development Ltd has made the appropriate planning applications to convert it back into a single home.

[8][9] Notable residents of Forbes House have included the Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer in the early to mid-19th century, and Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn from 1860.