24 C O N T E X T 1 1 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 as being of architectural or historic interest, with short descriptions. Buildings were at first graded I, II and III. Grade II* was created later. The buildings in Grades I and II on the provisional list were placed on the statutory list, once the description and ownership details had been verified by the local authority. All buildings in Grade III on the provisional list were placed on what was known as the supplementary list. Nine mansions, which had formed a grand terrace on the west side of the square, were demolished. This was done to create space for the US Embassy, which still occupies a whole side of the square. One of these lost mansions, No 31, was provisionally listed in 1957. The rest were not provisionally listed at the time. This was because they were substantially Victorian in origin, or later rebuilds of 18th-century houses. No 4 Grosvenor Square (on the east side of the square) was not put on the provisional list, presumably because it is Victorian (1863–8). However, by 1969 it was one of only three historic survivors in the once august and architecturally diverse Georgian square. In 1970 No 4 was listed Grade II. The most graphic illustration of this devastation of Grosvenor Square can be found on a wall in Marylebone Library. Here, one can view a splendid black-and-white framed aerial photograph entitled ‘Grosvenor Square to Regent’s Park, 1957’. The eye is immediately drawn to a Hiroshima-like scene of utter destruction on the west side of the square. The timing of this orgy of destruction would suggest some kind of official stitch-up.This could have involved the Grosvenor Estate, Westminster City Council and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government bypassing or even pre-empting the listing system. It is likely that the decision was passed down from the highest level as it involved the ‘special relationship’ between Great Britain and the USA during the cold war epoch. Indeed, the politics behind the redevelopment of this No 4 Grosvenor Square, the Italian Embassy, flanked by 20th century replacement of earlier individual houses
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