26 Whitehall and Admiralty House, London

Private
(Visited as part of “Open House London.”)
26 Whitehall was built in 1725, and houses the Admiralty Boardroom, still used by the First Sea Lord to direct the operations of today,s Royal Navy. The rest of the building is now used by the Department of International Development. The Boardroom contains notable wooden panelling, with a limewood centre-piece by Grindling Gibbons. There is also a wind dial connected to a vane on the roof, and various naval paintings and other artefacts.
The adjoining Admiralty House was built in 1785 as the residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the ground floor contains an elegant suite of staterooms. There is a steep, doubly-wound stair lit by a elegant lunette.
Both buildings contain art and antiques from the MOD Art Collection. Well worth a look.
Not normally open to the public. Internal photography not permitted.