Carlton House was a mansion in central London, which is best known as the town residence of the Prince Regent for several decades. It was situated between Pall Mall and The Mall in the St James district of London, a little to the west of Trafalgar Square. The Prince had an earlier house substantially enlarged by the architect Henry Holland between 1782 and 1796. The location of the house was one of the main reasons for the creation of John Nash's ceremonial route from St James to Regent's Park via Regent Street, Portland Place and Park Square : Lower Regent Street and Waterloo Place formed the approach to its front entrance.

Carlton House was a very spacious and opulent residence and would have been called a palace in most countries, but when the Prince Regent became King George IV in 1820 he deemed that his own residence, the official royal residence of St James Palace and his father George III's Buckingham House were all inadequate for his needs. Some consideration was given to rebuilding Carlton House on a far larger scale, but in the end Buckingham House was rebuilt as Buckingham Palace instead. Carlton House was demolished in 1825 and replaced with two grand white stuccoed terraces of very expensive houses known as Carlton House Terrace . The proceeds of the leases were put towards the cost of Buckingham Palace.

Reference

John Summerson, Georgian London (Barrie & Jenkins, 1986 ed.)