In Mayfair, where new-money opulence rubs shoulders with storied institutions, one private members' club has spent the past 90 years refusing to bow to trends—because it sets them. The Lansdowne Club, founded in 1935, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. And while its corridors have seen everything from political treaties to Gordon Selfridge’s legendary soirées, the club is proving that age is nothing if not an asset.
Let’s begin with the address. You don’t casually wander into The Lansdowne Club. Housed in an 18th-century Grade II* listed mansion, this is the sort of building that feels like it should have its own National Trust plaque, velvet rope, and perhaps a butler. Designed by Robert Adam for a British Prime Minister—because of course it was—the building’s Georgian bones give way to a decadent Art Deco soul, complete with a 25-yard private swimming pool and a cocktail bar featuring a piano lifted from the RMS Queen Mary. You couldn’t make this up if you tried.
But for all its grandeur, The Lansdowne Club has always been quietly radical. In 1935, it became the first private members’ club in London to admit men and women as equals, which was about as rebellious as wearing trousers to tea at Claridge’s. That spirit of inclusion lives on, though you’re still more likely to sip a gimlet than overhear a TikTok being filmed here.
The Club is using its anniversary not to rest on laurels, but to give them a polish. A year-long programme of events is underway, beginning with a Literary Festival featuring Country Life Editor Mark Hedges in conversation with Club CEO David Herbert. (Expect plenty of discussion about ‘Girls in Pearls’, and not a whiff of irony.) There’s also a historic archive exhibition, white-tie gala, and a members-only trip to Sir John Soane’s Museum for an exclusive peek at Robert Adam’s original architectural drawings—because nothing says 2025 quite like ogling 18th-century blueprints with champagne in hand.
Of course, nostalgia is best served with a forward-looking twist, and The Lansdowne Club is undergoing a sensitive refurbishment. Translation: the Art Deco stays, but the Wi-Fi won’t make you feel like it’s still 1935. “Our 90th anniversary is not just a celebration of our past, but a promise for the future,” said Herbert, whose tone suggests evolution without disruption. Which, if you’re a private club in Mayfair, is code for: We’ll stay elegant, but don’t expect the same threadbare carpets.
Perhaps what sets Lansdowne apart, though, isn’t just its history or its charm (though there’s no shortage of either). It’s the refusal to fade into the background of London’s clubland arms race. Where other institutions are hiring brand consultants to make them seem cool, The Lansdowne Club is content to let its pedigree—and, let’s be honest, its swimming pool—do the talking. And if you’re lucky enough to get through the door, you’ll see why.
After all, how many places in Mayfair can say they helped end the American War of Independence and host cats named after the Selfridges?
