Thomas Goode & Co., London

Biographyhttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42153

Thomas Goode (1794–1870) moved from a china shop in Mill Street, Hanover Square, to South Audley Street in 1844, where he took No. 19, promptly making an addition. (ref. 57) At this time the range between South Street and Chapel Place South still consisted of plain, small buildings, leased in 1730 to the consortium that also undertook the erection of the Grosvenor Chapel. (ref. 58) The ground floors were chiefly in commercial use, but Edward Martin Foxhall, district surveyor to the parish, inhabited No. 18 between 1828 and 1861. (ref. 59)
Goode's fashionable trade fast enlarged, especially after he was joined by his son William James Goode (1831–92). After Foxhall's death they took No. 18, and soon afterwards expanded into adjacent buildings on the north side of South Street. (ref. 60) The trend continued after the elder Goode's death, and in 1875 W. J. Goode began petitioning for a new lease of his premises, all of which he held as an under-tenant. So far as can be seen, Goode wished at this stage merely to improve the fronts, but in view of the complexity of the sites the Grosvenor Board made no promises. (ref. 61)
Soon, however, the first Duke took an interest in his case. In June 1875 Goode submitted an elevation that was rejected, but was told he might receive a new lease 'if he will build the front of the house … of red brick and terra cotta and of a design to be submitted to and approved of by the Duke, at an extra outlay'; with this went further advice that he should 'see the house which the Duke refers to in South Kensington'. This front was duly used as a 'model' for a new design, which the Duke quickly approved and admired. (ref. 62) Whatever the identity of this model (J. J. Stevenson's No. 8 Palace Gate seems the most likely candidate), the Duke plainly himself steered Goode and his architect towards a red-brick front in the fledgling Queen Anne style. At what exact point Ernest George was chosen architect is not clear, but none of his previous buildings had been in the full Queen Anne manner he was to adopt at Goodes and so often thereafter.
At first the reconstruction was scheduled to take in only Nos. 18 and 19. But in July 1875 Goode also acquired No. 17 at the corner with South Street, purposing in time to rebuild this site also. George's design, with two equal gables over Nos. 18 and 19, was amended to allow for an addition at this end with a lower gable. The contractors Manley and Rogers executed Nos. 18 and 19 in 1875–6, but before it was entirely finished Goode was able to get possession of No. 17, where the afterthought was duly built on in 1876. (ref. 63)
The original conception of Nos. 18 and 19, with double gables, a central entrance to the shop incorporating a self-opening door (still extant) and another door on one side leading to flats above, is typical of the slight asymmetries beloved of Queen Anne architects (fig. 19 in vol. XXXIX). This emphasis was diffused by the addition of No. 17, which in compensation was more richly decorated, notably with a series of cut-brick reliefs and ornaments carved by Harry Hems on the return front towards South Street (Plates 32, 33a in vol. XXXIX). In detail the whole building adheres faithfully to picturesque ideals, featuring prominent roofs, tile-hanging on the flanks of the gables, exaggerated chimneys (one ornamented with sunflowers) and frail wrought ironwork. The Building News adds: 'all the walls are built in cement, the brickwork being finished with a struck joint, as it was built. None of the work is gauged, and a fair width of joint is allowed to show through the carved panels as elsewhere. The window sashes and frames are finished white… . The woodwork of the ground floor is ebonised, and this with the red granite makes a setting for the ceramic wares for which Messrs. Goode are known.' (ref. 64) One surprising but apparently original feature is the blank arcade facing South Street behind No. 17, in stucco rather than brick and displaying ornamental tiles on the piers. Within, parts of the upper floors suggest that the rebuilding of 1875–6 was not a complete one. But the ground-floor showrooms are replete with the motifs of contemporary aestheticism. Several piers are decorated with Minton Hollins tiles, (fn. a) and one remarkable room is intact, with leather paper on the walls, a fine painted frieze incorporating birds, and some mellow panels of secular stained glass.
After Nos. 17–19 were completed W. J. Goode continued to make changes behind the front, particularly in 1880–2. (ref. 65) In a bid for further premises he in 1886–7 considered building either on the opposite side of South Audley Street or further south, at No. 16. (ref. 66) In 1889 he negotiated instead for expansion northwards on to the site of Nos. 20 and 21, 'in order to exhibit goods immediately after the French Exhibition'. Providing that the tenant of No. 22 could be satisfied, the Duke promised Goodes the whole frontage up to a widened Chapel Place South, as it was then contemplated to rebuild the Grosvenor Chapel and open out its surroundings. Goode therefore had his way, and after some delays due to difficulties with the London County Council over the nature of the proposed fireproof flooring, in 1889–91 A. Bush and Sons built a large extension by George and Peto. (ref. 67)
The extension closely follows the Queen Anne style of the original, with one broad gable facing west towards South Audley Street, and one facing north towards the chapel, and similar walling, ironwork, and shop fronts divided by columns of red granite (Plate 86a). The external detailing is however simpler and the style of the main showrooms themselves chaster, having round-arched openings and, originally, painted figures in the spandrels (Plate 86b). Possibly these interiors were decorated by Liberty and Company, who made changes for Goodes towards South Street at this time. (ref. 68) The upper floors were also differently treated, for they were devoted to one expansive and cleverly planned house, No. 22 South Audley Street. In 1902–3 Detmar Blow, architect, undertook alterations here in a neo-Georgian taste for John Gordon, with Patman and Fotheringham as builders and Keeble Brothers as decorators. The structural work was not extensive, but other changes were made for the Gordons in 1905–6 and 1908. (ref. 69)
Among later changes at Goodes itself was an extensive set of alterations made by the architects Balfour and Turner behind No. 37 South Street, in 1907–8; an unusual stained-glass window in the rear of the shop may date from this time. (ref. 70) Small additions were made in 1911, 1928 and 1932, all (like those of 1907–8) by the local builders Haywood Brothers. (ref. 71)

From: 'South Audley Street: East Side', Survey of London: volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings) (1980), pp. 291-303. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42153 Date accessed: 18 February 2009.

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