Decorating Cleveland Row

The buildings on Cleveland Row range from late-seventeenth-century brick structures to Georgian and early Regency terrace houses, with the palace wall forming the southern boundary of the street and providing a backdrop of Tudor and later brickwork. London stock brick predominates on the residential properties, with lime mortar jointing and Classical stone or stucco dressings to window and door openings. The Crown Estate's maintenance specifications for its properties on the street typically require lime-compatible paint systems and the use of materials pre-approved by the Crown's building surveyors. Iron railings and gates to palace-adjacent properties are substantial and historically significant, requiring specialist metalwork conservation.

The gatehouse and outer wall of St James's Palace, which forms the physical southern boundary of Cleveland Row, is among the most significant surviving Tudor buildings in London, its red brick construction dating to the reign of Henry VIII and representing the architectural origin point against which all subsequent development on the street must be understood. Clarence House, accessible from Cleveland Row via Stable Yard, is the official London residence of the Prince of Wales and contributes to the royal character of the immediate area. Several of the private residential properties on the north side of Cleveland Row have historically been occupied by senior members of the royal household and diplomatic staff attached to the palace.