Admiralty House is a gateway building defining the Mall and Trafalgar Square. Its purpose was to act as the official residence of the First Lords of the Admiralty, the heads of the Royal Navy. It was built in 1912 by Aston Webb, a prominent architect of the neoclassical style.
 The house is located on Whitehall, facing Horse Guards Parade, and is connected to the older Ripley Building, which houses the Admiralty board room and other offices. It is in these offices that James Bond was born, dreamt up by Ian Fleming who worked here in Naval Intelligence.
The arch links Buckingham Palace along the mall both above and below ground. The Mall is full of secret tunnels which link the palace to the arch and the hidden bunker nearby. In fact if you visit the excellent I.C.A gallery at Carlton Terrace pop into the gents toilets. If you stand on the last W.C. at you can peep inside one of tunnels which runs just underneath.
Admiralty House has been home to several British Prime Ministers, including Winston Churchill, who lived there twice when he was First Lord of the Admiralty. Today the building is being converted to a luxury Hotel.
The inscription above reads ‘In the tenth year of King Edward VII / to Queen Victoria (from) most grateful citizens, 1910.