Wetherell

Mayfair and its near neighbour St James's have been synonymous with style, success and celebrity for centuries. Today, Mayfair is the world's most expensive office location – easily outstripping New York and Tokyo for rents achieved. At the same time, the value of residential accommodation has soared.

A Grosvenor Square flat sold 25 years ago for £200,000 would fetch £4 million today. But it wasn't always that way. There had been a scattering of private houses in the countryside west of the City of London since Elizabethan times, but it was the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 that drove the development boom in St James's. Work began on Bond Street just 17 years later. The name Mayfair came from an annual May Fair held in a boggy field near the Tyburn brook in what is now Shepherd Market. It began 20 years after the Great Fire in the reign of James II and quickly became a bawdy affair "for musick, showes, drinking, gaming, raffling, lotteries, stageplays and drolls".

The May Fair was condemned by the authorities for its "lewd and disorderly practices", although it was also said to have been immensely popular and frequented "by all the nobility of the town". Featuring booths for jugglers and prize fighters and bear and bull baiting, it continued for 78 years until it was finally brought to an end by new residents who had moved in alongside it and objected to the noise. Still, fairs are demountable and the May Fair – which had originally been held in Haymarket anyway – moved on to Fair Field in Bow. All that remains today is a blue plaque in Shepherd Market – and the name Mayfair, which has shrugged off its "lewd and disorderly" tag to become a byword for quality.

Mayfair through the years

1667

Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans develops Jermyn Street in St James's, once part of the same royal park as Green Park and St James's Park.

1677

Sir Thomas Grosvenor marries Mary Davies.The "hundred acres" of the Manor of Ebury – including much of what will become Mayfair – pass into the Grosvenor family.

1683

Sir Thomas Bond and a group of other developers buy Clarendon House from Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albermarle and begin to develop Bond Street,Albermarle Street and Dover Street.

1686

The May Fair is established on Brook Field (named after the Tyburn brook, which runs through it) later to become Shepherd Market. It soon becomes a bawdy affair.

1698

Berkeley Square is created to a design by architect William Kent on the site of the gardens of Berkeley House, the home of Sir John Berkeley.

1708

The Grand Jury of Westminster passes judgement on the May Fair:"Disorderly persons do rendezvous and draw and allure young persons and servants to meet to game and commit lewd and disorderly practices."

1707

Fortnum & Mason established.

1710

Sir Richard Grosvenor obtains a licence to develop Grosvenor Square and the surrounding streets.

1721

Development of the Grosvenor estate begins.

1735

Builder Edward Shepherd constructs Shepherd Market on the site of the May Fair. It consists of butchers' shops at the lower level, and a theatre where plays were staged during the Fair.

1750

The Punch Bowl opens on Farm Street.

1764

The May Fair, which had wilted under the fierce gaze of Queen Anne, re-establishes itself under George I. It finally falls foul of gentrification when a group of new residents, including the Earl of Coventry, take out the 18th century equivalent of a noise abatement order.The fair moves on.

1805

The newly created Earl Grosvenor buys Gloucester House, a small residence, on Park Lane for £20,000.The property is developed and expanded over many years. In 1889 it becomes one of the first houses in London to have electricity. It remains in the Grosvenor family until World War 1, when it is requisitioned by the government. It is now redeveloped as the Grosvenor House Hotel.

1818

John Nash draws up the master plan for Regent Street and Regent's Park.

1819

Lord George Cavendish creates the Burlington Arcade.

1906

The Ritz on Piccadilly opens to the public on May 24.

1931

Sir Robert McAlpine completes the Dorchester hotel.

1942

Dwight D Eisenhower and his staff move into hotels and flats around Grosvenor Square, which is unofficially renamed Eisenhower Platz by GIs.

1960

The American Embassy in Grosvenor Square is completed to designs by Eero Saarinen.