Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards. It has views across Hyde Park and a position at the most fashionable western edge of London. It became lined with some of the largest privately owned mansions in London, including the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor House and the Holford family's Dorchester House (demolished in 1929 and replaced by 1931 with The Dorchester, which are now both hotels, and the Marquess of Londonderry's Londonderry House, which has been demolished. 