Henry’s Townhouse is so discreet that our taxi, crawling along the uniform Georgian terraces of Upper Berkeley Street, drove straight past it. Up close, a pair of globular lanterns, a suspiciously well-scrubbed stone step and a little brass buzzer were the only clues to what lay behind the shiny black front door.
It felt rather like popping in on Sherlock Holmes; Henry’s, as the residence is known, is after all, only a stroll away from 221b Baker Street. But when Ann Grimes, the vivacious housekeeper and girl Friday, ushered my family and me into the luxuriant hallway, it was clear we had stepped a bit further back in time. No 24 Upper Berkeley Street was owned by Jane Austen’s brother Henry, with whom the novelist stayed many times, referring to it in her letters.
Behind the unassuming façade of No 24 Berkeley Street in Marylebone . . .
. . . you’ll find a ‘Bridgerton’d-up’ throwback to Regency London — with electricity
Bill Haarer (2)