Mayfair takes its name from the fair which was held there every year for two weeks in May. The fair was stopped by the authorities in the mid-18th century because of its rowdiness and debauchery. Houses first started to be constructed there shortly after Charles II was restored to the throne, and the process continued throughout the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the area belonged to the Grosvenor family, and the Grosvenor estate still continues to be a major landowner. The Burlington, Berkeley and Curzon families also had land holdings in Mayfair which were developed at the same time. From the start tt was a fashionable area because it was close to St James’s Palace, which was the royal palace until Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in the 1830s. Because most of the houses were for grand noble families, and included a few palaces such as Burlington house and Devonshire house, mews and artisan cottages had to be constructive alongside them to provide the services for the noble occupiers of the grand houses. These mews still exist and are themselves highly valuable houses now. Shopkeepers were also attracted to the area because of the rich inhabitants, leading to the construction of Bond Street.

There are not many homes to buy east of Bond Street. West of Bond Street, there are mansion blocks and converted houses in the streets off Davies Street, such as Gilbert Street, East Street and Duke Street. There are some little residential enclaves around Claridges. Avery Row has flats above shops (and estate agents call the area “Avery Village”.) Brook Street has cottages and a modern block of flats. Further south just north of Berkeley Square there are mansion blocks such as Bloomfield Court and Grosvenor Hill Court, and some converted flats. Mount Street and streets off it provide more flats. There are flats on the south side of Mount Street looking at the gardens. Mount Row contains mews houses. There are mansion blocks in Balfour Place and Carlos Place. Berkeley Square is mainly shops and offices but there are also some large flats. West of Berkeley Square there are some recent houses in Farm Street and mansion blocks and houses in South Street. There are mews houses and other small houses in Hill Street and Hay’s Mews, and some more modern houses in the Red Lion Yard and Chesterfield Hill. There are flats in mansion blocks above the shops in South Audley Street, houses in Waverton Street, and more flats in Balfour Mews and Reeves Mews.

Grosvenor Square has a few flats among the embassies. Upper Brook Street and Upper Grosvenor Street have large houses and flats. Culross Street has smaller houses as does Blackburne’s Mews between it and the square. Park Street which runs from north to south contains large mansion blocks and former houses converted into flats. Green Street contains large houses, mostly converted into flats. Some streets off Park Street such as Lees Place and Shepherds Place contain a variety of houses and flats in different styles. There are flats in Curzon Square and Curzon Street. Park Towers in Brick Street has been converted into flats. Down at the Piccadilly end, there is The Albany, originally designed as homes for single rich aristocrats. Mayfair also includes Shepherd Market, a maze of Georgian streets on a much smaller scale, with converted flats created out of the former houses in Shepherd Street and Hertford Street There are individual cottages in Shepherd Street and Market Mews.There are also mansion blocks here such as Carrington House.