It was as difficult to conceive the fate of such squares as Russell Square, Bedford Square, or Brunswick Square overtaking Grosvenor Square as it was to contemplate the turning of Berkeley Square into offices or business premises.
And in the ever tending migration westward, it was also unknown whether it would undergo a transformation as complete as that which happened to Cavendish and Hanover Squares, and become so heterogeneous as to its inhabitants that it would, like them, almost defy logical classification!
The author of A Critical Review of the Publick Buildings in London, who is generally known to have been James Ralph, regarded its pretensions with anything but a favourable eye.
"Grosvenor Square," he wrote in 1734, "is not only the last addition which has been made to the town, but the last in situation too; and 'tis generally understood to be the finest of all our squares. I am sorry I have the opportunity to say it has so few advantages to recommend it... It was meant to be fine, but has miscarried very unfortunately in the execution. There is no harmony or agreement in the parts which compose it."
And although he was particularly severe on "the triple house on the north side," describing it as "a wretched attempt at something extraordinary," it must be remembered that Ralph could find very little indeed to admire in the whole of his travels in London, an exploration which in one part of his work he deliberately describes as "a painful survey."