Annabel’s of Mayfair is legendary in its original and current sense: the private club who’s members and guests have included everyone from royalty to rockstars. Apparently it’s the only nightclub The Queen has ever visited, but more salubrious guests include Vidal Sasson, Mick Jagger and Diana Ross.
The late Mark Birley opened the original Annabel’s nightclub in 1963, naming it after his then wife, Lady Annabel Vane Tempest-Stewart. Situated in the old coal cellar at 44 Berkeley Square beneath the Clermont Club, a gambling den famously frequented by Lord Lucan, Annabel’s was funded by 500 of Birley’s friends, who stumped up five guineas a year (that’s five pounds in today’s money) to become life members.
Today after a spectacular makeover, the club has moved next door and rather than simply a basement nightclub, the new place will be open day and night for its members. The Grade I listed building boasts four restaurants, seven bars, two private rooms and a cigar salon over its 26,000 square feet of space.
“I wanted to create the idea of a home within a town house that was fresh for the greatest party of the season,” says interior designer Martin Brudnizki, who has designed numerous restaurant and hotel interiors, including the Beekman in New York and Caring’s The Ivy in London. “You can wear all your jewelry, your evening bag, your fur stole . . . it’s party time when you walk in.”
So, when are we visiting?
Images are from across the web but in the main you can see more from Vogue and Habitually Chic.
