View of the front elevation of The Pheasantry, 152 King's Road, Chelsea, and surrounding buildings, looking east. The entrance archway including statues and sculpture on top are clearly visible. The buildings on either side of the property have been rebuilt in the form of modern four-storey red-brick offices above shops. Hoardings are currently in place of where the shops will go on the ground-floor. The Pheasantry is a Grade II listed, Georgian building, built in 1769. The site gets its name from the business of one of its nineteenth century residents, Samuel Baker, a game dealer who provided pheasants for the royal household. Significant architectural decoration including the facade and entrance arch were added in the early 1880s. Princess Seraphine Astafieva lived and taught ballet on the site between 1916-1934. The ground floor and basement was a members-only restaurant and drinking establishment from 1932 until 1966, inhabited by the likes of Dylan Thomas, Humphrey Bogart and latterly Anthony Hopkins. In 1966 the ground floor became a nightclub which continued into the 1970s and although mainly a disco. It also hosted gigs by unknown up and coming artists and bands such as Lou Reed and Queen. Residential apartments were on the upper levels and notable residents included Eric Clapton and Germaine Greer.
