Beauchamp Place is a tiny slice of Knightsbridge, hemmed in by Brompton Road, Yeoman’s Row, Walton Street and Hans Road, just beside the world-famous Harrods department store. The area is comprised of a few rows of white stucco Victorian and Regency-era terraces, some in the ‘Queen Anne’ style. These terraces are occupied by hotels, restaurants and specialty stores, such as The Map House and Apple Records. In terms of green spaces, Hyde Park is the closest major park, although there are some squares nearby as well, though few are open to the public. Some of the roads in the postcode sector are tree-lined down the middle, or have small squares integrated into the street pattern, such as Ovington Square. Public transportation-wise, the area is closest to Knightsbridge underground station, with South Kensington slightly further.

Beauchamp Place (pronounced Beecham Place) is one of the busier streets in the postcode sector, with fashion boutiques, antique stores and restaurants lining the streets, as they have since the Edwardian-era. This, however, was not always the case, and the area was once known for its brothels and lodging houses. Back in the 16th century, the area hosted a mansion owned by the Seymour family, who held many titles, including that of Viscount Beauchamp, from which the place derives its name.

The freehold for the land between Yeoman’s Row and Beauchamp Place was vested in the early 1700s by Edward Starke of Brompton, which then passed down to his daughters, Eleanor and Elizabeth, and later to Elizabeth’s daughter, Elizabeth Jones, who married Sir Thomas Dyer. The land in that time was cultivated, possibly as a nursery garden for Brompton Hall, which was then owned by the Dyer family.

The area is close to tube stations, museums as well as many retail destinations, but this comes at the cost of heavy traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian), though this is slightly lessened off the main streets themselves.

The historical buildings in the area are constantly being renovated by development companies for new purposes, such as the Hans Road development just opposite Harrods, which was transformed by Dartmouth Capital into new residential apartments. Another development was proposed for a £300 million luxury hotel with direct access to Harrods via a secret tunnel. Given the go-ahead by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s planning committee, the project intends to deliver a 120-bedroom ‘six star hotel’ designed by Tim Hamilton of UK-based Hamilton Architects.