Annabel's
Formation | 1963 |
---|---|
Founder | Mark Birley |
Type | Private members' club |
Location |
|
Owner | Richard Caring |
Website | www |
Annabel's is a
It was opened at 44 Berkeley Square in 1963 by Mark Birley and named for his wife Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. It was founded in the basement of the Clermont Club, a private gambling club established by John Aspinall. Annabel's was one of the first nightclubs in London and was especially popular with the British aristocracy and the international jet-set in the 1960s and 1970s. It was revived by Birley's son and daughter in the 2000s and was sold by Birley with his other member's clubs to Richard Caring in 2007. Annabel's closed at No. 44 Berkeley Square in 2018 and was reopened later that year at No. 46, occupying the entirety of the Georgian townhouse.
1963-2007: The Birley Years at 44 Berkeley Square
Establishment and opening
In 1962 the Clermont Club, a private gambling club catering to London's high society, was established at 44 Berkeley Square, a townhouse in the Mayfair district of London, in 1962 by John Aspinall. The house was built between 1742 and 1744 by William Kent for Lady Isabella Finch.[1] The Clermont Club was one of the first private gambling clubs in London following the passing of the Betting and Gaming Act 1960.[2]
Aspinall suggested to his friend Mark Birley that he start a piano bar in the extensive vaults and basement of No. 44.[3] Birley himself had intended to start a club after being inspired by the piano bar of the Carlyle Hotel in New York.[4] 6,000 tonnes of London Clay were removed from the basement and garden at the rear of the house to create the principal rooms of the club.[5] The dance floor of the club was the floor from the old kitchen of No. 44.[4] Annabel's was linked to the Clermont Club upstairs by an internal staircase, which was subsequently blocked off by Birley.[6] Birley blocked off the staircase due to his disapproval of Arab gamblers coming down into Annabel's from the Clermont Club in various states of "dress and disorder which jarred with the tone of the nighclub" as recalled by Jonathan Aitken.[6]
Birley named the club for his wife, Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. After almost two years of preparations, the club opened on 4 June 1963, Birley having borrowed £175,000 (equivalent to £3,898,530 in 2021) to establish the club.[7] Lady Annabel herself said that she was not fond of having the club named after her when it first opened but subsequently looks back " ... on [Birley's] decision with pride and consider it the most tremendous compliment he could ever have paid me. Having a nightclub named after you is much better than being immortalised as a rose, which, unlike Annabel's, does not necessarily survive very long".[4] The club became colloquially known by rich debutants as "the 'Bel's".[8]
Annabel's was launched by an opening night party on 4 June 1963.[4] Annabel's only had a seating capacity of 225 people and became quickly overcrowded with Mark and Annabel Birley's friends and their relations.[4] Lady Annabel later wrote that for " ... at least an hour it was bedlam. I had visions of oxygen masks and people being trampled to death" but " ... by the early hours of the morning the crowd miraculously began to melt away, and the rest of the night was magical".[4] Annabel also accidentally insulted the American ambassador to the United Kingdom, David Bruce, and the actor Peter O'Toole by telling them there was no room for them.[4] Lady Annabel recalled that the guests on opening night " ... sounded like a roll call for the pillars of society".[4][a] By 5am only Mark and Annabel Birley and James Goldsmith and his girlfriend Sally Crichton Stuart remained on the dancefloor.[4]
Rival high society clubs to Annabel's in the 1960s included Siegi's and Les Ambassadeurs.[9]
Unaccompanied journalists were not allowed in Annabel's except for the gossip columnist Nigel Dempster.[8]
Design and decor
The entrance to the club was through a canopied staircase leading down from Berkeley Square. The canopy was decorated in blue and gold stripes.[4] The staircase led to the lobby of the club, off which were the men's and women's toilets. The men's toilets had a stock ticker machine.[8] The women's toilets were staffed by Mabel James for many decades.[4]
The décor of Annabel's was designed by Birley and Philip Jebb, with subsequent assistance from Nina Campbell. It was described by Harry Mount as having had a "cluttered, eclectic country house look".[10] Plum Sykes described how "Birley's collection of horse and dog paintings and prints covered the walls top to toe; flickering candle lamps lit the tables while guests ate dinner seated on banquettes upholstered in red velvet; the cramped dance floor, almost an afterthought, was hidden at the back of the club and boasted only a couple of disco lights ... Guests felt more like they were at a party in someone's fabulous drawing room than in a London nightclub".[11] Campbell had met Birley in 1965 when she was an assistant to John Fowler, who had decorated the interiors of the Clermont Club. Campbell told Birley that two vitrine units in the bar looked "too tacky" to which Birley responded "'If you think you're so clever, why don't you do them yourself?".[12] Campbell subsequently lined them with a Chinese red silk and put examples of blue and red Imari porcelain on display.[12] Birley was impressed and Campbell began collaborating with him on the decor of the club.[12]
The main sitting area of the club was down the corridor from the lobby with banquettes and sofas. A bar and the room known as the Buddha Room were subsequently created after the entry corridor became too crowded.
Lady Annabel wrote that Annabel's felt more like a set of "luxurious private sitting rooms than a club". It was decorated with numerous and valuable oil paintings, drawings and photographs with many vases of flowers. The artworks were by many notable artists including Léon Bakst, H. M. Bateman, Edwin Landseer and Alfred Munnings.[4] Some of the artworks in the club had been inherited by Birley from his father, the society portrait artist Oswald Birley.[12] A painting by John Ward of founder members of the club was commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary Annabel's and hung in the dining room of the club.[4][b]
Later years
Following the success of Annabel's, Birley opened the private members clubs Mark's Club in 1972, Harry's Bar, in 1979, the Bath & Racquets Club in 1989, and George in 2001.[9]
Birley placed sandbags outside the club as a precaution against terrorist attacks following the IRA's bombing of Scott's in nearby Mount Street in 1975.[8]
A set of linocuts of scenes from Annabel's by the cartoonist Nicholas Garland was privately published by Birley in 1985, with a foreword by Lucian Freud.[13][14]
In the wake of the collapse of
In 2004 India Jane became pregnant and Robin paid former London police officers who claimed to be private detectives more than £400,000 from the accounts of Annabel's in exchange for false information about her then partner, and the father of her child, Robert Macdonald. The investigation was to establish whether Macdonald had a financial motive behind his relationship with India Jane. Mark Birley fell out with Robin following the revelation.[9] Mark Birley sacked Robin from the management of his clubs after the fall out from the affair.[19] Robin subsequently said that he felt he was "acting in the best interest of my sister ... My father was too ill at the time to have any additional worries". Macdonald later received an official apology from Robin and had all his legal bills paid with an additional cash settlement.[9] Robin apologised to his sister and admitted that he had been mistaken in pursuing the investigation.[20] India Jane Birley solely managed the club in 2006 after her estrangement from her brother, and left the management of her father's clubs after their 2007 sale.[19]
Music and entertainment
Annabel's was one of the first nightclubs in London to replace their live band with a discothèque.[4] The club was seen as the embodiment of the emerging spirit of Swinging London of the 1960s with its dance floor and DJ, standing in contrast to older clubs like The 400 Club where a small dance orchestra would play medleys from Cole Porter and other composers of the Great American Songbook.[4] Lady Annabel described the early days of Annabel's as a " ... sophisticated place that reflected the youthful spirit of the new decade and the more upmarket end of flower power".[4] In the early 1960s Queen magazine would publish a 'Top 20' of the most requested songs played at Annabel's.[21] Birley would go to New York City to get the latest records from Sam Goody.[8] Many notable entertainers subsequently performed live at Annabel's including Ray Charles, Bryan Ferry, Ella Fitzgerald, Lady Gaga, Diana Ross, The Supremes, and Tina Turner.[4][22] Annabel's DJ for more than 20 years was Cass the Gas.[17]
Other notable entertainments at the club included fashion shows from the Italian designer Valentino, a Brazilian Carnival with topless dancers and samba musicians and a fortnight of Dixieland jazz with food from the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's and music from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.[9]
Notable staff
Birley was known for his loyalty to staff and many of the employees of Annabel's worked for him for decades. The Maître d' of Annabel's for many years was Louis Emanuelli, who had been hired from the restaurant Mirabelle. The singer Shirley Bassey was banned for several years from Annabel's after assaulting Emanuelli.[8] Peter Stringfellow was refused entry to Annabel's after attempting to bribe Emanuelli with £100.[8] Frank Sinatra changed in the cloakroom at Annabel's after performing at the Royal Albert Hall and asked Emanuelli what he thought of him, to which he replied that he thought he was the "greatest Italian since Mussolini".[8]
The attendant in the women's lavatory, Mabel James, has been described as a "psychotherapist and a shoulder to cry on for legions of women".[17] She had been recruited by Birley from Wilton's restaurant on Jermyn Street.[8] Mabel was particularly keen that all women would wash their hands after visiting the toilet, and would stand next to the basin with a towel and fill it with warm water. She would then update Lady Annabel with her weekly list of women who had and hadn't washed their hands.[4]
Minimum wage law breach
Annabel's was the subject of a notable legal case Annabel's (Berkeley Square) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs which ruled that the business had not paid its staff the minimum wage and had attempted to use tips to hide this.[23]
Membership
The club was founded in 1963 with 500 members, who paid 5 guineas a year for life membership of the club.[11] 69 founder members were alive at the time of the club's 2018 move to 46 Berkeley Square.[11] The original members continue to pay £5 a year to the present day.[11] In 2005, Annabel's had 9,000 members with membership fees of £750 a year (equivalent to £1,191 in 2021).[22] Guests were banned from buying drinks at the club.[22] Annabel's had 7,000 members in 2009.[24]
Since its relocation in 2018, membership of Annabel's has been equally allocated to men and women.[25] In 2018 the club had 1,000 members and a further waiting list of 14,000 prospective members.[25] Separate tiers of membership fees exist for people aged under 27, under 35, and over 35.[25] The identities of the membership committee of Annabel's have always remained secret.[25] Lifetime memberships of Annabel's at 46 Berkeley Square were available to 100 people, known as Legacy members. The membership is inheritable by their children. A quarter of Legacy members are from the United States.[11] The first 100 members of the new Annabel's were personally chosen by Richard Caring and received a special key.[26]
In 2022, prospective members were invited to apply online with a letter of recommendation from a member.[27] The annual subscription is £3,250 with a joining fee of £1,750.[27]
Dress code
The male dress code at Annabel's under Birley was for a dark suit and tie.
The present dress code at Annabel's was devised by Derek Blasberg in 2017, and has been perceived as tongue-in-cheek.[28] Blasberg's rules prohibit "Cheap, ill-fitting suits. Denim that is holey or deemed distressed. Shoes that women can't walk in. Hats at night. Sunglasses at night, even if they’re prescription. Nipples on women. Nipples on men, especially. Dirty fingernails. Cargo pockets. Spikey hair. Men in shorts. Women in shorts. Exposed bra straps. Visible panty lines. 'Sports bras'".[28] Blasberg is particularly excised about couples who wear matching clothes as it is "annoying and gimmicky" but intends his list to "encourage individuality and fabulous party dressing, and step back from being binding or overly prescriptive".[28] Jeans and trainers are prohibited after 7pm and jackets must be worn by men everywhere except the dance floor.[28]
2007 sale to Richard Caring
Mark Birley sold Annabel's and his other private members clubs
Caring initially planned to reopen Annabel's in the basement of the building next door to No. 44 and convert the rest of the house into an all day members club.[11] Many long established members of Annabel's subsequently joined the Mayfair member's club 5 Hertford Street, established by Robin Birley in 2012.[11][31]
Annabel's was the subject of the 2014 documentary film A String of Naked Lightbulbs, directed by Greg Fay and produced by Ridley Scott.[32] An auction of the contents of Annabel's at Christie's in November 2018 realised more than £4 million.[33]
2018 to present: 46 Berkeley Square
Annabel's closed at No. 44 in February 2018 and reopened in late 2018 at 46 Berkeley Square, two doors down from No. 44.[34][35][36] The new Annabel's is set in over 26,000 square feet, occupying the entirety of the 18th-century townhouse of No. 46.[37] The creation of the new Annabel's cost £55 million.[25] It has four restaurants and seven bars for members. Other amenities include a cigar salon and two private dining rooms. The basement nightclub has been recreated with several rooms. Annabel's is open from 7 am for breakfast and closes some 21 hours later.[25] The club is dog friendly and offers the use of a dog walker to its guests.[38]
Design and decor
The interiors of Annabel's at No. 46 were created by
The entrance hall is notably more minimalist in its design in comparison with the other rooms of the club. Brudnizki has likened the aesthetic effect of it to a
Nightclub
The nightclub of Annabel's is located in the basement of No. 46.[39] The nightclub comprises the Jungle Bar and the Legacy Bar, a main Nightclub space and male and female bathrooms.[39] The nightclub has de Gournay wallpaper and is lit by palm trees made from glass and brass.[11] The wallpaper depicts elephants and maharajas in one room and jungle scenes in another.[11]
The Legacy Bar is for members that have lifetime membership of Annabel's.[25] It has a floor of green agate with walls of antique mirrors.[11] It is decorated with paintings by Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, and Pablo Picasso.[39]
The Garden Room
The Garden Room at Annabel's is a restaurant with a gilded ceiling with roses painted by Gary Myatt with walls of mirrored panels. Myatt's designs were inspired by the gardens at Levens Hall in Lancashire.[40] The tulip chandeliers are made by the Sogni di Cristallo in Murano, Venice.[11] An outside terrace courtyard garden with fig and orange trees that seats 120 is accessed from the Garden Room. It has a retractable roof manufactured by Waagner-Biro.[11][40]
Bathrooms: The Powder Room and The Loos on the Mews
The Powder Room, one of the women's bathrooms at Annabel's, is situated on the top floor. It has a ceiling of silk pink roses. It features oyster shell shaped washbasins carved from marble with gold taps shaped like swans. One member reportedly asked if they could host a dinner in the room causing Plum Sykes to write that "There's nothing more glamorous than supper in the loo ... if the loo looks like this one".[11] With over 575,000 likes, The Powder Room was the second most popular toilet on Instagram in 2019, behind only the futuristic eggs of Mayfair restaurant Sketch.[37] Annabel Sampson wrote in Tatler that if the Powder Room was a cake " ... it would be a splendid, seven-tiered red velvet gateau with rippled icing like classical drapery".[37]
The other prominent bathroom, the Loos on the Mews were opened in 2019 and are decorated in a jungle and rainforest theme with four million pieces of mosaic of trees and exotic birds.[45] The men's bathroom features a crocodile shaped washbasin made from a piece of green onyx weighing 500 kg. Brudnizki said of the Loos on the Mews that the "jungle and animal motifs add to the playful spirit of the place ... offering members a similar sense of escapism to the rest of the Club".[45]
Notes
- George Weidenfeld as among the guests present at the opening night of Annabel's.[4]
- ^ In her 2004 autobiography Annabel: An Unconventional Life, Lady Annabel Goldsmith lists Louis E, Sidney, and Mark Birley's secretary Perdita, Nolly Zervuadich, Philip Jebb, Michael Brand, Douglas Wilson, Anthony Berry, Prince George Galitzine, David Metcalfe, Peter Blond, Daniel Prean, Peter Munster, Jeremy Tree, Antony Lambton, David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, Prince Azamat Guirey, Michael Howard, 21st Earl of Suffolk, John Beckwith Smith, John Heinz, Sir Houston Mark Shaw-Stewart, 11th Baronet, William de Gelsey, James Hanson, Baron Hanson, David d'Ambrumenil, William Smith, 4th Viscount Hambleden, Norman Parkinson, as well as Mark Birley and herself being depicted in the painting.[4]
References
- ^ Historic England. "44 Berkeley Square, W1 (1066466)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- OCLC 1282646406.
- ^ Bullmore, Joseph. "The House of Cards: Inside Mayfair's fabled Clermont Club". The Gentlemen's Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Goldsmith, Annabel (December 2004). "An Unconventional Heart". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ Mount, Harry (20 January 2015). "Why there'll always be an Annabel's". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ OCLC 63703010.
- ^ Langley, William (10 June 2007). "Why there'll always be an Annabel's". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Greg Fay (director) (2014). A String of Naked Lightbulbs (Documentary film).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Maureen Orth (1 February 2008). "Hurley Birley". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ a b Mount, Harry (20 January 2015). "Why there'll always be an Annabel's". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Sykes, Plum (March 2018). "The Reinvention of Annabel's, London's Legendary Nightclub". Vogue. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Campbell, Nina (20 June 2017). "Nina Campbell: How we designed Annabel's, the club where everyone looks good". Country Life. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-5266-0356-2.
- ^ "Annabel's". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ a b c "Belle Annabel's". Women's Wear Daily. 23 September 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- The Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Whitworth, Damien (21 October 2014). "The club that still smells of sex and exclusivity". The Times. No. 71333. p. 73. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- OCLC 648086893.
- ^ The Evening Standard. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ^ Samantha Conti (May 2007). "The Annabel's affair: just as Annabel's regains its place as London society's favourite nightspot, its owners are mired in a bizarre family feud". W. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- OCLC 150645627.
- ^ a b c Adams, Guy (10 August 2005). "Club Class? Past and future of Annabel's". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
- ^ "Club loses 'tips as wages' appeal". BBC News. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- Management Today. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ Barron's. Archived from the originalon 4 March 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ Bellini, Luciana (12 March 2018). "Annabel's 100 Club". Tatler. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b Sachs, Rory (22 July 2022). "How to join Annabel's". Spear's Wealth Management Survey. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d Berrington, Katie (2 October 2017). "No Matching: Derek Blasberg Reveals Dress Code For Annabel's". Vogue. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ Daily Telegraph. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ Marsh, Stefanie (21 March 2013). "I don't think my father respected me until he was ill". The Times. No. 70838. pp. 90–91. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ Mance, Henry (29 June 2018). "London at war: Annabel's v. 5 Hertford Street". Tatler. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "Exclusive: A String of Naked Lightbulbs". Another Magazine. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ "20 November 2018 Live auction 17511 Annabel's". Christie's. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "The chef at the new Annabel's Club tells you what to expect". British GQ. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ Morgan, Ben (29 January 2015). "Mayfair members club Annabel's set to relocate after more than 50 years". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ^ Neate, Rupert. "'These walls have seen many things': Annabel's artefacts go under hammer". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c Sampson, Annabel (8 July 2019). "The world's most dazzling loos (according to Instagram)". Tatler. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ Bellini, Luciana (4 April 2018). "Inside the new Annabel's". Tatler. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Annabel's Nightclub". Martin Brudnizki Design Studio. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f O'Kelly, Emma (12 March 2018). "Mayfair haunt Annabel's swings open its maximalist doors". Wallpaper. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- OCLC 1338663809.
- ^ "A Monumental Pair of French Cut and Molded-Crystal Seventy-Nine-Light Candelabra by Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat, circa 1915". Christie's. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- House and Garden. Archived from the originalon 17 March 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ OCLC 1282646406.
- ^ a b Tregaskes, Chandler (4 October 2019). "Inside Annabel's spectacular, mosaic-clad new loos". Tatler. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
51°30′34″N 0°08′47″W / 51.5094°N 0.1465°W