Ormond Yard was laid out as a 200 feet square plot of land originally designed to be a stable yard and by 1740 the yard was already being called Mason’s Yard, probably due to the owner of the two houses fronting both the yard and Duke street was a Mr Henry Mason. It would make sense for him to have rented some stables in Mason’s Yard.
In 1748 the London Evening Post reported a death ‘at his House in Duke-Street’ of a Mr. Margison ‘who for several Years kept the great Stable-Yard in that Street call’d Mason’s Mews’.
Today Mason’s yard continues to be used partly as garages and preserves a little of the general aspect of an old stable yard with the new White Cube taking centre stage.
White Cube Gallery, St James’s
In 2000, Jay Jopling’s pioneering White Cube gallery – the spiritual home of the Young British Artists – moved from its original home in St James’s for a big new space on Hoxton Square.
Jopling (the son of a Conservative MP) opened this second White Cube gallery back in St James’s. Which is not to say that his new gallery is in any way staid or traditional.
The White Cube Gallery
As one of the most successful British gallerists in recent history he has the alchemist’s touch; turning art into monetary success. This has earned him a reputation as a svengali figure moulding and manipulating his artists and the market.
The White Cube was the first freestanding building in St James’s. Built on the site of a former electricity sub-station it is a classic modernist white box, with long slit windows, and a very Tate-like glass roof.
Inside the White Cube Gallery there are two long gallery spaces carry exhibitions of the very best of contemporary British art.
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