Casa I. N. Alexandrescu / The British Legation

By 1907, Britain was the only major power whose minister did not have a permanent residence. Herbert Willis, the Office of Works architect based in Constantinople, identified 24 Strada Jules Michelet, which the consul was already renting, as the most suitable house to buy for a residence. It was built in brick and render and completed in 1900: though it stood in its own garden, Willis recommended that an adjacent strip of land be purchased at the same time, to bring the site up to a little less than an acre. Both were bought in 1908.