Manchester Square

The townhouse now known as Hertford House, formerly Manchester House, stands on the north side of Manchester Square in Marylebone and was built between 1776 and 1788 for the 4th Duke of Manchester. Part of the Portman Estate, it has housed the Wallace Collection since 1900, one of the world's great private art collections, assembled by the 4th Marquess of Hertford and his illegitimate son Sir Richard Wallace. On display are works by Frans Hals (The Laughing Cavalier), Velazquez, Rembrandt, Fragonard and Watteau, alongside European arms and armor, Limoges enamels and Sevres porcelain. Admission is free, and the glass-roofed courtyard houses a restaurant much liked by Londoners.