Built 1773-5 for Sir George Colebrooke, the design has been attributed to the Adam brothers but it seems that Sir Robert Taylor is more likely. 1776/7 Colebrooke sold No. 32 to Joseph Banks who moved in in August 1777. His large library and natural history collections were housed in the back of the premises which fronted onto Dean Street and had an address there, no 17. On Banks' death in 1820 the library and collection remained on site, under Robert Brown's curatorship - see there for more information, and the Linnean Society held their meetings there, 1821-57 when they moved to Burlington House. 1827 the library and collection were given to the British Museum.
c.1822 David Don became the librarian for the Linnean Society and was still a librarian, living at no 32 with his wife in 1841. Presumably Brown retired and the Linneans had their own library, though it's not clear if Don and his library occupied the same space as Brown and Banks' library had.
This shows how the house extended to the south, behind its neighbour number 31, but the frontage onto Dean Street seems to have become a different property by this date.
1860 - 73 the Dental Hospital of London was in occupation. 1874 - 1914 the house was occupied by the Hospital for Diseases of the Heart. 1915 - 37 the house was occupied by Thornton-Smith Limited, antique furniture dealers and interior decorators.
Demolished in 1937 to make way for Twentieth Century House, UK headquarters of the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Company, which, 2025, occupies the joint site of no 31 and 32 Soho Square.
Two chimney pieces were retained from no 32: The Royal Society (of which Banks had been President) has one in its rooms at Burlington House; The Royal Institution, whose 1799 first meeting had been held under Banks's chairmanship at No. 32 Soho Square, has one in its premises in Albemarle Street.
Sources: , .
This photograph of 32 Soho Square was taken in February 1906, predating the plaque. This image is published with the permission of The London Archives, TLA reference code . Another image of the house taken in 1910 (so also predating the plaque) can be seen in the London Picture Archive, record number .
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