New Picture of London, 1830
Off Kensington High Street, a great, rambling mansion served as the Whig headquarters for 30 years during the early 1800s. Holland House served as a place for salons, where Byron met Caroline Lamb, Sheridan got drunk, and wit Sidney Smith hung out (https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/04/sweetness-and-enlightenment/). Lady Elizabeth Holland was persona non grata in much of the Ton, because she was divorced after running off with the younger Lord Holland. Her salons were a way for her to be involved in politics and culture.
Lady Holland was evidently a beauty with brains who was also known to be a bit of a tyrant; she was described as often “insolently imperious towards her guests” (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp161-177). Lord Holland, on the other hand, was known to be sweet, soft spoken and devoted to his wife.
Holland House was destroyed during the 1940 bombing of London.
More on Holland House:
For more images and history, Holland House (1875)
https://cherylsregencyramblings.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/londons-holland-house-then-now/
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/04/sweetness-and-enlightenment/
Holland House: A History of London’s Most Celebrated Salon, (2015) Linda Kelly
The Holland House Circle (1908) Lloyd Sanders
