Schomberg House

It was built for the 3rd Duke of Schomberg, a Huguenot general in the service of the British Crown.

[2] The street facade of Schomberg House is striking and rather unusual for a London mansion.

In 1769 it was divided into three (80 Pall Mall to the west, 81 in the centre and 82 to the east) by the artist John Astley.

In 1781 Astley was succeeded by a Scottish quack doctor called James Graham, who turned the establishment into a "Temple of Health and Hymen".

The "Temple" featured a huge "celestial bed" fitted with early electrical devices.

[2] Meanwhile, Thomas Gainsborough, who was at the height of his career as one of the two most fashionable portrait painters in England, lived next door at no.

80–82 were all acquired by the government for use by the War Office, which also occupied several other mansions in Pall Mall.