Apsley House
‘Number One, London’—the Duke of Wellington’s townhouse beside Hyde Park—mixes grand rooms with a trove of European art and Napoleonic history. The Waterloo Gallery still stages the story of annual veterans’ banquets; galleries brim with Velázquez, Goya, Rubens and gifts presented to the victor. It’s a compact, beautifully kept visit: allow 60–90 minutes, use the excellent audio, and don’t miss the dramatic stair hall.
Opening Hours
Admissions
What's not to miss inside?
Waterloo Gallery
Feasts, politics and memoryHere the Duke hosted the yearly Waterloo Banquet—dining as commemoration.
📍 State floor
Spanish ‘Royal Gift’ Paintings
Masterpieces with a diplomatic backstorySpanish monarchs rewarded Wellington with works by Velázquez and peers after Napoleonic defeat.
📍 Picture galleries
Canova’s Napoleon
A colossal rival, captured in marbleAntonio Canova sculpted Napoleon as ‘Mars the Peacemaker’; its presence here reframes victory.
📍 Stair hall
SIlver & Ceremonial Gifts
Trophies that travelled empiresOrders, swords and splendid services chart how military success became soft power.
📍 Cases off the state rooms
Inspire your Friends
- Apsley House’s address became a London in-joke: mile-zero of aristocratic town life, hence the nickname ‘Number One, London’.
- The annual Waterloo Banquet ran for decades after 1815, turning dinner into remembrance and elite networking in the same room you walk through.
- Benjamin Dean Wyatt remodelled the house for the first Duke—much of the restrained exterior hides surprisingly lavish interiors.
