10 Downing Street

10 Downing Street, address in London of the official office and residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom and, by extension, the name of the building itself. It has been associated with the prime minister since that office came into being in the 18th century, and it has served as the prime minister’s home sporadically since 1735 and continuously since 1902. Apart from living quarters and offices, the complex includes state drawing rooms and dining rooms for hosting dignitaries and other guests, as well as a room where the cabinet regularly meets. The building’s exterior is recognizable by its modest black front door and its black brick facade.

The area around 10 Downing Street (now known as the City of Westminster) has been a centre of British government since at least the 11th century, when King Canute I built a royal palace there. In 1682 government official Sir George Downing undertook the construction of a row of houses in Westminster, near Whitehall Palace. Fifty years later King George II offered one of them, then known as 5 Downing Street (renumbered in 1779), as a personal gift to Sir Robert Walpole, the first lord of the Treasury. After employing architect William Kent to join the house with a larger one behind it, Walpole took up occupancy in 1735 on the condition that the building also be made available to future first lords of the Treasury while in office. Beginning with Walpole, nearly all first lords of the Treasury have simultaneously held the title of prime minister (though the title was not made official until 1905), and the building has since become identified with the more familiar post.

During Walpole’s tenure, the house on Downing Street served as a combined home and office, as well as a venue for entertaining distinguished visitors. Few of Walpole’s immediate successors took similar advantage of the building, however, often donating its use to family members or friends. Later prime ministers, notably William Pitt the Younger (1783–1801, 1804–06), restored its importance and made key enhancements to the structure. By the mid-19th century, however, the surrounding neighbourhood had become squalid, and the building was no longer used as a residence at all, though some prime ministers still used it as an office and for cabinet meetings. Major renovations were initiated by Benjamin Disraeli (1868, 1874–80) and William Gladstone (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, 1892–94) to make the house, which had fallen into disrepair, once again livable and to modernize its facilities. Since the premiership of Arthur Balfour (1902–05), British prime ministers have routinely resided at the address, though in recent years some have occupied the more spacious living quarters of the adjoining 11 Downing Street. The building’s increased significance in the 20th century made it the target of a Blitz attack during World War II, as well as an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1991.