Today I’m in Nerdy History Girl mode, offering information and images of some of the locations in My Inconvenient Duke. If this kind of historical detail isn’t to your taste, feel free to skip this post—or maybe just look at the pictures.

Camberley Place, where the story opens, and which appears in all three Difficult Dukes books, is based on an existing house in Surrey: Sutton Place. I’m drawn to the Tudor and Jacobean houses because of the layout. If you look at the Wikipedia article, you’ll see the way the house offers many opportunities for my couples to have a little privacy—and allows me to be inventive about what they do with their privacy. But the houses are also chockful of interesting objects, which are fun to mention in the course of a scene.

The fishing house, also a recurring location in the series, is based on the 16th century fishing temple in Staffordshire. If you search “Walton Fishing Temple” or “Cotton Fishing Temple”, you’ll find all kinds of articles and images. I’m constantly adding to my collection of images, though I’m not sure I’ll be using the temple again… but maybe.

Hatchards Bookshop, where Doveridge encounters Lady Alice, is another existing London location.

Newmarket, the site of the famous races, is home to the still-existing Rutland Arms, where several scenes take place. The Racing Calendars for 1832 and 1833 provided the where and when of races in England, and the articles by correspondents helped me work out the weather and other details that help bring scenes to life.

Sussex Place, where Alice resides with her aunt, is another existing London structure (albeit changed internally), one of several beautiful Regency-era buildings around the outer circle of the Regent’s Park.

Crockford’s Club: The building on St. James’s Street remains, though it is no longer a gentlemen’s club.

The Arch. As explained in my notes at the end of the book, this is what we now know as the Wellington Arch. It’s moved since the time of my story. It used to be next to what was St. George’s Hospital and is now the Lanesborough Hotel. As the Wikipedia and other articles illustrate, the arch has also changed in appearance over the years. But one can still climb to the top, and I used photos taken by visitors to get a sense of the experience.

Blackwood House in Piccadilly is based on Devonshire House, which was demolished in 1924, one of so many splendid London mansions that haven’t survived. The images on the Wikipedia page will give you an idea of the layout.

Hatchett’s White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly, is a site you’ve probably read about in many Regency historical romances. It was there until the late 1800s. My sense of the anarchy in the vicinity comes from satirical prints by George Cruikshank and Thomas Rowlandson. This isn’t the only inspiration such artists have provided. (See image above, of Hyde Park Corner.)

George Inn, Southwark is still there—well, some of it, anyway. It’s enough to give you a sense of the old galleried inns I’ve used in several stories, including Lord of Scoundrels and Ten Things I Hate About the Duke.

The Fisk building, where the first encounter with Maggie takes place, is based on the Lamb Building, which was destroyed during WWII. This part of the Temple also appears in Dukes Prefer Blondes, where I used a different building to house Raven Radford and his friend.

The Cock, where Blackwood and Maggie meet for negotiations, is now known as Ye Olde Cock Tavern. It was on the opposite side of Fleet Street street during the time of the story. I don’t know if the porter is still superior, but I mean to find out during my next visit to London.

I restricted myself here to Creative Commons and non-copyrighted images. You’ll find more images on my Pinterest Page.