Sackville Street, number 29, London: executed design for the ceiling for the drawing room, for John Parker, 1770 (3)
1770
The four-storey house at 29 Sackville Street was built for the barrister William East in 1732 under his direct surveillance. John Parker was already living on the street at number 16 when he bought number 29 and moved there in 1770. There is no evidence for Adam doing any work beyond the drawing room ceiling on the first floor, but it is nevertheless a prominent commission, the drawing room taking up the house's whole street frontage of 31 feet.
As of 1922, when the building served the new Victorian Club, the ceiling existed 'exact as drawing'. However, the house was damaged by fire, and Adam's ceiling lost its painted elements. Since 1985 the rest of the ceiling has been restored, and the house was sold in 1994 as offices.
See also: Saltram Park, Devon
Literature: A.T. Bolton, The architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1922, Volume II, Index p. 49; F.H.W. Sheppard ed., Survey of London XXXII, The Parish of St James Westminster II North of Piccadilly, 1963, pp.360-1; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, 2001, Volume 1, p.314; S. Bradley and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6: Westminster, 2003, p.567