The Montcalm

The Montcalm Hotel was a development spanning the buildings at 34-40 Great Cumberland Place, London within Westminster's Portman Square conservation area. In 1532 Sir William Portman took on a lease of around 270 acres that included this area of which in 1554 the freehold was conveyed in perpetuity to Sir William and his heirs. The grid of streets which now make up the Portman Estate began to be laid out from 1757 when Marylebone Road was laid to provide a route to the City bypassing the West End. In 1763 the peace negotiated between France and England made London's landowners more confident about leasing their lands for development, and by 1764 the laying out of Portman Square and some neighbouring streets had begun. By 1820 the development of the Estate was complete