text: eustace balfour colonel eustace james anthony balfour ( 8 june 1854 – 14 february 1911 ) was a london - based scottish architect . the brother of one british prime minister and nephew of another , his career was built on family connections . his mother was the daughter of a marquess , and his wife frances , a noted suffragist , was the daughter of a duke . frances 's sister in - law was princess louise , daughter of the reigning queen victoria . balfour 's initial work was on english and scottish country houses , but he won only one major commission in this field . however , his appointment as surveyor of the grosvenor estate in london gave him architectural control over much of mayfair and belgravia in the 1890s and 1900s , and the opportunity to design many buildings himself . balfour was a senior officer of the volunteer force in london . his outspokenness on military matters was a factor in his appointment as an aide - de - camp to king edward vii . a fastidious and somewhat withdrawn individual , balfour succumbed to alcoholism in his fifties . this brought about his early death . early life balfour was born at whittingehame house in east lothian , the youngest of five sons son of james maitland balfour and his wife lady blanche mary harriet gascoyne - cecil , daughter of james gascoyne - cecil , 2nd marquess of salisbury . his paternal grandfather james balfour was a nabob who had made the family 's fortune as a contractor supplying the royal navy in india and became a tory member of parliament ( mp ) , while his mother 's father was a conservative cabinet minister in the 1850s . her brother , robert gascoyne - cecil , 3rd lord salisbury , was three times prime minister before being succeeded in 1902 by eustace 's elder brother arthur balfour . eustace balfour was educated at harrow and at trinity college , cambridge , where he graduated in 1873 . he then studied architecture under basil champneys , the designer of newnham college , cambridge , before setting up his own practice in 1879 , with an office in addison road , north kensington which was also his home until his death . on 12 may 1879 he wed lady frances campbell , the fifth daughter and tenth of twelve children of george campbell , 8th duke of argyll . the couple had met at a ball given in london by lord and lady goschen , and married soon afterwards in st john 's presbyterian church in london . frances 's father was shocked at their haste . out of respect for balfour 's mother , who had died in 1878 , the wedding was modest , with no formal meal and no honeymoon . architecture balfour 's first years of architectural practice consisted of small projects for family and friends . these included the restoration of inveraray castle for his father - in - law the duke of argyll , an extension to his brother arthur 's hunting lodge strathconan house in ross - shire , and the church of st mary magdalene in the hamlet of hatfield hyde . the church , which is now in welwyn garden city , was originally known as hyde chapel . built as a chapel of ease within the parish of hatfield for balfour 's uncle the marquis of salisbury , it became the parish church of hatfield hyde in 1928 . in 1885 , balfour began a professional partnership with hugh thackeray turner , which lasted until balfour 's death . balfour had been a member of the society for the protection of ancient buildings since his undergraduate days in cambridge , and turner was the society 's secretary . together the two men were engaged to rebuild hall in suffolk , which had been destroyed by fire their design , in a restrained jacobean style , was balfour 's only major country house commission . work was scarce after 's completion in 1889 , and in 1890 balfour applied for the post of surveyor for the 1st duke of westminster 's grosvenor estate , to succeed thomas . he seemed unlikely to be selected , but frances made a direct approach to the duke ( who was also her uncle ) , and he got the job . balfour 's social standing appears to have been a significant factor in his appointment . he was the son - in - law of a duke , nephew of a marquess , and his wife was the sister - in - law of queen victoria 's 4th daughter princess louise ( who had married her oldest brother john in 1871 ) . balfour had a strong sense of social class , and frances balfour later described the 1st duke of westminster as having run the estate " not as today on commercial lines , but more as a principality " . even so , his brother gerald 's wife lady elizabeth balfour noted that when the surveyor called on the duke in his professional role he was " never offered a chair and never expected one " . the post involved a lot of design work for balfour , who seems to have been able to take whatever commissions he wanted , often delegating them to turner . in the 1890s , balfour and turner appear to have been the most prolific designers of private houses on the estate , and in 1892 balfour was made a fellow of the royal institute of british architects . their own work included most of the wholly redeveloped balfour place in mayfair , formerly known as portugal street and renamed for the architect . balfour also supervised projects which were contracted to other designers . the duke favoured the domestic revival style of architecture , and particularly insisted on red brick for dwelling houses . balfour , who deplored the previously fashionable gothic revivalism , laid down strict architectural guidelines , sometimes even redesigning the work of others . balfour and turner also designed aldford house on park lane , an " ornate but stunted " free - standing stone mansion for the diamond magnate alfred beit which was replaced in 1932 by a modernist apartment block designed by val myer . their other most notable work was st anselm 's church in davies street , believed to have been mostly turner 's work , which was regarded as eccentric . using an arts and crafts - style blending of influences , it had a plain frontage with a basilican interior , and some gothic tracery . when its demolition was planned in 1938 , it was dismissed by h. s. goodhart - rendel as " a purely personal record of thackeray turner 's particular tastes " . however , the building was not in fact demolished . instead , it was dismantled and reconstructed in altered form at uppingham avenue in belmont as the church of st belmont . the parish describes it as " a genuinely recycled building " . balfour held the surveyor 's post until 1910 , when he was succeeded by edmund . his second decade in the role was less significant than the first , because the death in 1899 of the 1st duke brought the estate a bill for £ 600 , 000 in death duties ( equivalent to £ 60 . 9 million in 2016 ) . the resulting financial pressure meant that little rebuilding occurred until 1906 , and when it resumed balfour 's influence was diminished . he had little affinity with the hedonistic young hugh grosvenor , 2nd duke ( grandson of the 1st ) , who edwin lutyens and others had persuaded to adopt a less rigid architectural policy . volunteer in 1882 , balfour joined the volunteer force in 1882 , becoming a lieutenant in 1883 , and lieutenant - colonel in command of the london scottish regiment of volunteers from 1894 to 1903 . he began to take a wider interest in defence issues , writing extensively on the subject , such as the conditions and requirements of the volunteer force ( 1886 ) . in july 1899 , as the second boer war loomed , balfour offered to raise a thousand men to go and fight , but it was considered too early to begin that effort . his offer to the minister george wyndham was ignored by the war office , and balfour reacted angrily , complaining that volunteers were " expected to be fit for service while we are vigorously debarred from seeing any " . eventually 20 , 000 volunteers were called up and fought in the war . however , balfour 's need to liaise with the 2nd duke of westminster , who had just inherited the grosvenor estate , prevented him from joining his force when they travelled to south africa at the end of 1899 . he remained in command of the london scottish until 1900 , when he resigned in protest at financial controls that prevented payments to volunteers if there was an insufficient number of raised troops . at the end of december 1902 , balfour was awarded the volunteer officers ' decoration . despite his differences with government , or possibly because of them , king edward vii appointed balfour in january 1903 as a military aide - de - camp for volunteer forces . personal life and family eustace and frances balfour had five children : blanche elizabeth campbell dugdale ( 1880 – 1948 ) , a biographer of her uncle the prime minister arthur balfour , and later a noted francis cecil campbell balfour ( 1884 – 1965 ) , who became a colonial governor in sudan in the 1920s oswald herbert campbell balfour ( 1894 – 1953 ) , military secretary to the governor - general of canada , 1921 – 23 joan eleanor campbell balfour ( died 1939 ) alison catherine campbell balfour ( died 3 september 1955 ) accounts of their marriage diverge widely . frances 's congenital hip dislocation left her in constant pain , and often irritable . the couple 's temperament and interests were opposites , france 's enthusiasm for politics and intellectual company contrasting with her husband 's lifelong passion for shooting and his later interest in the military . hartley writes that theirs was " not a particularly happy marriage " . knox confirms this view , noting that neither blanche dugdale 's memoirs nor frances balfour 's autobiography write much about their relationship with eustace , and that frances wrote at length about his brother arthur who she " far preferred to eustace " . author joan b. huffman is more cautious , noting that crucial sources are unavailable since frances destroyed all eustace 's letters to her . however , huffman records that she did support her husband when his sister alice repeatedly challenged him over his drinking . death balfour 's drinking problem became serious around 1906 , and in 1909 his health began to deteriorate seriously . in december 1910 he returned to whittingehame , where he died aged 56 at 6am on 14 february 1911 , surrounded by his family . eustace was the third of the five balfour bothers to die relatively young , cecil and francis having both been killed in accidents in the early 1880s . balfour was buried at whittingehame , with his parents and grandparents . frances survived him by 20 years ( until 1931 ) , and was buried alongside him . rudyard kipling , a member like balfour of the savile club in london , described him as " a large , loveable man , and one of the best of talkers " .