the first great classical houses to be built in London and easily the most striking of them." It was to prove an influential model for future English houses, but its impact was felt much more in the design of country houses than London mansions. Belton House in Lincolnshire, which is sometimes said to be the exemplar of the English country house, was closely based on Clarendon House. In 1667, the same year that his house was finished, Clarendon fell from favour. His image had not been helped by the grandeur of his mansion, which is believed to have cost around £40,000. Among the many allegations against him it was charged that he had appropriated, to build his house, stone intended for repairs to St. Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire of London. That same year, on 14 June 1667, Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary: "...some rude people have been... at my Lord Clarendon's where they cut down the trees before his house and broke his windows." In response to the allegations, the King abandoned his former favourite. In 1667, Clarendon fled to France, where he died in 1674. In 1675, his heirs sold Clarendon House to Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, for £26,000, and in 1683, Albemarle resold it to a consortium of investors led by Sir Thomas Bond. Bond demolished it and built Dover Street, Albemarle Street, and Bond Street on the site. Albemarle Street ran right through the centre of the site of the house, which had faced directly down St. James's Street. The building of the house and the resentment it caused are major elements in The Piccadilly Plot, the seventh of the Thomas Chaloner series of mystery novels by Susanna Gregory. References London's Mansions by David Pearce, (1986) The London Rich by Peter Thorold (1999) External links Clarendon Estate, Victoria County History 1667 establishments in England 1683 disestablishments Former houses in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures on Piccadilly