It has frequently been let, sometimes as when the Shahzada was there, for a short period; sometimes, as now, when it has become the residence of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, the United States Ambassador, for a term of years. Its perfection of taste and its rare and beautiful contents remind me that, appropriately enough, the Marquis of Hertford, whose name is indissolubly associated with such things, died here in 1842. At the south corner of Stanhope Street we come to the last of the great houses of Park Lane--Londonderry House, now the residence of the Marquis of Londonderry, but formerly known as Holdernesse House, it having been erected by the Wyatts in 1850, on the site of the former town house of the Earls of Holdernesse. Next door to Londonderry House is quite a small house of somewhat elaborate design. This was built on the site of another residence, by Mr. Whittaker Wright, whose name is remembered in connection with a notorious trial a few years since, and who, “_immemor sepulcri_,” as Horace says, built a house which he was never destined to enjoy, somewhat as in earlier days Baron Grant erected a palace in Kensington which was demolished before it was occupied. At this point Park Lane splits itself into two thoroughfares, the smaller being Park Lane proper, and by its tenuity giving some _raison d’étre_ for its designation, the latter being known as Hamilton Place, which takes its name from that Hamilton who was Ranger of Hyde Park during the reign of Charles II., and who erected a number of small houses here in what was then but a _cul de sac_, on ground which formed an integral part of the park itself. [Sidenote: HAMILTON PLACE.] The houses in this street were rebuilt by Adam in 1809, but it was not till about sixty years later that the street was carried through to Park Lane, and became its chief outlet into Piccadilly. The mansion (No. 1) at the corner of Piccadilly was built by Lord Chancellor Eldon when he left Bedford Square, and here he died in 1838. Next door was occupied, from 1810 to 1819, by the Duke of Bedford, who moved here from Great Stanhope Street; while later residents include Earl Gower, afterwards Duke of Sutherland, the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, and the Duke of Argyll. [Illustration: THE ENTRANCE TO PICCADILLY AT HYDE PARK CORNER, WITH ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.] At No. 4, the great Duke of Wellington was living in 1814, while yet Apsley House was in the occupation of his brother, the Marquis Wellesley. Others who have lived here include the Earl of Lucan, in 1810, and Lord Grenville, twelve years later. In our own day it has been the town residence of the Earl of Northbrook, the head of the Baring family and some time Governor-General of India. Mr. Leopold de Rothschild’s beautiful house (No. 5), which looks directly on to the park and has a view up Park Lane, was, from 1810 to 1825, the residence of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and many years later, of the Marquis Conyngham.