Two Temple Place Guided Tour
The secrets behind William Waldorf Astor’s dazzling Neo-Gothic gem on Victoria Embankment are revealed in this guided building tour.
Astor commenced work on Two Temple Place in 1892 and the building provides a narrative of his life and the remarkable craftspeople who worked there. It is now owned by registered charity, The Bulldog Trust.
Astor emigrated to England from America in 1891 as, arguably, the richest man in the world, and he spared no expense when work began on Two Temple Place. It was originally designed for use as Astor’s estate office by one of the foremost Neo-Gothic architects of the late nineteenth-century, John Loughborough Pearson, and in addition to the fantastical and opulent interior, Two Temple Place originally contained the largest strongroom in Europe as well as two other enormous fortified safes, serving as an impregnable bolthole for Astor.
