Number 4 Royal Terrace was the fifth house in the terrace, located to the east of the centre of the street, overlooking the River Thames.

This house was an Adelphi lottery prize won by Robert and James themselves, with an annual rent of £230. The Adam brothers themselves moved to number 4 Royal Terrace in 1772, moving to 3 Robert Street in 1778, and then to 13 Albermarle Street in 1786. The brothers' offices were located at number 12 John Street.

When Robert and James left this house in 1778, it was taken by the ‘quack’ Doctor James Graham (1745-94), a Scottish doctor, the son of an Edinburgh saddler. He came to the Adelphi and reputedly spent £10,000 to fit out his ‘Temple of Health’. The Adelphi house was too expensive for Graham to maintain, and he left again in 1781. In 1790-97 the house was lived in by an artist, John Henderson; in 1798-1807 by Sir Brook Watson (1735-1807), a merchant; in 1811-35 by Sir William Bolland (1771-1840), a lawyer and bibliophile under whose tenancy the Roxburghe Club was founded in the house; in 1861-72 by Octavian Blewitt (1810-84), secretary of the Royal Literary Fund; and in 1888-1901 Richard D’Oyly Carte (1844-1901), a concert agent.

Sub-sub-scheme

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk