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There has always been something special about Dolphin House.

A couple walking in the gardens The construction of Dolphin House A car arriving at the entrance of Dolphin House External shot of the modern day Dolphin House
1820s
Thomas Cubitt, Victorian entrepreneur and future planner of Pimlico, acquires leases for most of Pimlico from the Earl of Westminster, establishing his works on the present site of Dolphin Square.
1855
Following Cubitt’s death in 1855, the lease for the former site of his works is returned to the Duke of Westminster.
1858
HM government leases the site for £3,998 10s a year, and builds the Army Clothing Factory.
1933
Following the closure of the Army Clothing Factory, the Frederick French Corporation of America agree to buy the freehold for the site from the Duke of Westminster. The Corporation plans the construction of Ormonde Court, a large residential development, but following financial problems the project is handed over to Costain, who begin work on the development in 1935.
1935
Construction of Dolphin Square begins.
1936
The southern half of Dolphin Square - comprising Collingwood, Frobisher, Grenville, Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Nelson and Howard Houses - is completed and the first tenants move in.
1937
The construction of Dolphin Square is completed.
1939-1945
Residents endure an eventful Second World War: Grenville House hosted General De Gaulle’s Free French HQ; the garage became an ambulance depot; the gymnasium was transformed into a hospital; air raid shelters were provided beneath Frobisher house; and thirteen bombs hit the Square during the Blitz, with considerable damage and the loss of 12 lives.
1950s
Costains sell Dolphin Square to a property entrepreneur for £2.25 million.
1950s
Dolphin Square is once again sold on, for the price of £3.1 million.
1950s
Westminster City Council pays £4.5 million for the lease and sublet it to the newly formed Dolphin Square Trust.
2006
Dolphin Square Trust and Westminster City Council agree the sale of Dolphin Square to a US private equity investor, and a programme of refurbishment work commences to update the décor of the communal areas and refurbish apartments to rent.

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