Private Clubs — Part X, Satellite Houses

The two oldest houses in Part X are both clubs and both opened in 1863 — the Arts Club, founded on Dover Street by Dickens, Trollope and Lord Leighton, and the Casino de Monte-Carlo, created by sovereign decree to rescue a state’s finances. Contemporaries with opposite motives.

The chapter’s sharpest story is one inheritance told across two rows. Mark Birley opened Annabel’s in 1963, sold it to Richard Caring in June 2007 and died two months later. His son Robin, denied the family name in London clubland by the courts, raised £30m and built 5 Hertford Street in 2012 under an address instead. In April 2026 the sold half went to DIAFA of Abu Dhabi for £1.4bn; the rebuilt half stayed in the family.

Four of six entries here sell nights, the highest proportion of any chapter — which stands to reason. A club that keeps its members overnight is doing what a club is for.