St James's Place is a street in the St James's district of London near Green Park. It was first developed around 1694, the historian John Strype describing it in 1720 as a "good Street ... which receiveth a fresh Air out of the Park; the Houses are well-built, and inhabited by Gentry ..." Henry Benjamin Wheatley wrote in 1870 that it was "one of the oddest built streets in London." Spencer House, which was commissioned by the 1st Earl Spencer in 1756, stands at number 27 and is now listed as Grade I. A further thirteen properties are Grade II listed; Number 4 is Grade II* listed.