Admiralty House (London)

Admiralty House
The Music Room of Admiralty House
General information
Location	Westminster
Address	Whitehall
Town or city	London, SW1
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′19.8″N 0°7′38.64″W / 51.505500°N 0.1274000°W / 51.505500; -0.1274000Coordinates: 51°30′19.8″N 0°7′38.64″W / 51.505500°N 0.1274000°W / 51.505500; -0.1274000
Construction started	1786
Completed	1788
Client	First Lord of the Admiralty
Owner	Her Majesty's Government
Technical details
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Architect	Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Awards and prizes	Grade I listed building

Admiralty House in London is a Grade I listed building facing Whitehall, currently used for UK government functions and as ministerial flats. It was opened in 1788 and until 1964 was the official residence of the First Lords of the Admiralty.

Admiralty House is a four-storey building of yellow brick. The front facade has a symmetrical facade of three broad bays and one additional small bay at the southern end. The rear facade is of five bays and faces Horse Guards Parade, with a basement-level exit under the corner of the Old Admiralty Building.

The front of the house faces Whitehall; its main entrance is in the corner of the Ripley Courtyard, cutting through the corner of the older Ripley Building, to which it is connected on the first and second floors.

Admiralty House was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, a protégé of Sir Robert Taylor, and opened in 1788. Built at the request of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1782–83 for "a few small rooms of my own", it was the official residence of First Lords of the Admiralty until 1964, and has also been home to several British Prime Ministers when 10 Downing Street was being renovated. U.S. President John F. Kennedy attended a meeting there with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962 to discuss the allies' reaction to the communist threat and more wide-ranging matters.