Number 11 is part of a charcoal-brick Georgian-era. The building overlooks St. James's Park and Horse Guards Parade and consists—from left to right—of Numbers 12, 11 and 10. Number 11 is located on the left side of Number 10, the official residence of the Prime Minister since the early 19th century. Number 12, to the left of Number 11, is the official residence of the Chief Whip, but it is now used as the Prime Minister's press office. As a result of many internal alterations over the years, the three terraced houses are internally a single complex; one can walk from number 11 to number 10, via an internal connecting door, without using the street doors. The Cabinet Office on Whitehall is also directly connected to these at its rear making up a executive office of the prime Minister and senior Privy Councillors. The terraced house was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684. It was altered c. 1723–35; refaced c. 1766–75 by Kenton Couse and with early C.19 alterations. Along with Number 10, it underwent a major reconstruction by Raymond Erith, 1960–64. Despite reconstruction, the interior retains a fine staircase with carved bracket tread ends and three slender turned balusters per tread. The fine Dining Room of 1825–26 is by Sir John Soane.
Recent occupancy
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 he chose to reside in Number 11, rather than Number 10, as it has a larger living area; Blair at that time was living with his wife and their several young children, while Gordon Brown, his Chancellor of the Exchequer, was at that point still a bachelor. In 2007, when Brown became Prime Minister, he at first chose to live in Number 11, but soon moved back to Number 10; Brown was by then married but had fewer children than the Blairs. Following the 2010 general election, the incoming prime minister, David Cameron, moved into 11, instead of 10 Downing Street, because George Osborne chose to remain in his Notting Hill home. In early August 2011, Osborne moved into Number 10. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and, until his resignation in February 2020, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid continued the recent practice of residing in the flats traditionally used by their counterparts.
