London Interiors the royal automobile Club Pall Mall, SW1Y 5HS The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1897 by Frederick Richard Simms, and it became the Royal Automobile Club in 1907 under the patronage of Edward VII. It changed locations a few times, from Whitehall Court to Piccadilly, before establishing itself on the site of the old War Office at Cumberland House. The building cost £250,000, and a French team of craftsmen, sculptors and blacksmiths was specifically employed from across the Channel to give the exterior an authentic Parisian look. The Club, which has both male and female members, is behind the introduction of the driving licence. The oldest motoring organisation in the country, it now has the reputation of being the country’s most influential. “The Royal Automobile Club has one of the grandest club interiors in London, designed by Mewes and Davis, the architects of The Ritz,” says Davies. “The basement swimming pool is simply astonishing. It is like something from a Cecil B DeMille epic with Byzantine decoration and glistening mosaics all overlooked by a superb sculpture of a sea goddess by Gilbert Bayes. It is a wonderful expression of fin de siecle opulence from a hedonistic age.” Utterly flamboyant with inspiration from Louis XIV, Italian palaces and Grecian antiquity, this Grade II listed building also boasts its own rifle range and Turkish baths, not to mention the central rotunda, which makes for the perfect place to feature a rotating classic or super car for visitors to admire from almost any angle.
Geo F trumper Curzon Street, W1J 5HQ
Top: The rotunda in the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall. Above: The cubicles inside Geo F Trumper's barbershop, Mayfair www.britain-magazine.com
“George F Trumper is the epitome of a traditional gentlemen’s barbershop, of which very few now survive,” says Davies. “The discreet frontage conceals a sumptuous and beautifully presented interior with individual cubicles, divided glazed mahogany screens and red velvet curtains – all redolent of a bygone age.” Although Trumper’s first barbershop opened on Curzon Street in 1875, it wasn’t in this location. Built in 1912 the current Curzon Street shop, with its polished oak shopfront and black and gilt window lettering, has beautifully preserved all of its period details. It’s a spot of Mayfair that hasn’t been modernized, inside or out. George F Trumper’s clientele were so sophisticated and aristocratic, he wanted them to have an experience more akin to a gentleman’s club than a barbershop. This old-fashioned approach to a haircut or a shave remains the same and is reflected in the decor. The cubicles are spacious, mirrored and private, with identical green leather traditional barber’s chairs. There are hunting scenes on the walls as well as display cases showing off shaving brushes, razor stands and bottles of the colognes that are now famous all over the world but bear the names of some of the great British figures of the past, including Wellington, Marlborough and Curzon. Despite there being so much to look at, it is immaculately neat, and is still a functioning shop. britain
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