Mansion House, Cardiff Mansion House, Cardiff The Mansion House (), located on Richmond Road, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff. Architects Habershon & Fawckner designed the Mansion House and it was built in 1896 for James Howell, owner of Howells department store. It was then known then as 'The Grove'. James Howell was a Cardiff businessman who opened his first shop in 1865. In 1890 he made arrangements to build a property on land leased from Lord Tredegar. The plans were for a large family home, to house his 11 children. The one unusual aspect of the house is
São Bento Mansion regime expropriates the mansion so that it would become the official residence of the President of the Council of Ministers (then the official title of the Prime Minister). After the necessary fitting-out works, António de Oliveira Salazar moves to the mansion in May 1938, even though the formal unveiling only takes place eleven months later, in April 1939. During the works, a monumental staircase connecting the grounds of the mansion to the Parliament gardens was commissioned to architect Cristino da Silva. When Marcelo Caetano became Prime Minister in 1968, the mansion saw major renovations: little more than the façades were