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JOHN QUINCY ADAMS OFFICE
13 Craven Street, near Charing Cross Station

Located directly across the street from the Benjamin House Franklin House, this non-descript building housed the offices of the U.S. Minister to Great Britain, then-future-president John Quincy Adams, from 1815 to 1817 (immediately following the War of 1812).

Adams arrived in London, from Dover, on May 25, 1815. Along the way, he stopped at a pub or tavern called the Green Man in Blackheath. There, he found a message telling him that lodgings had been arranged for him at 67 Harley Street, near Cavendish Square. He later moved himself and his family to a country residence they called "Little Boston," in Ealing.

According to his own account, Adams used to walk from his rented home, "Little Boston," on Windmill Road in Ealing, to this office, a distance of 9.2 miles, in about 2 and 1/2 hours. Today, Google Maps says it can be walked in 3 hours and 16 minutes, which means that if Adams was truthful, he was either jogging or walking pretty briskly. Of course, there wouldn't have been the traffic hold-ups in his time as there are today. The Little Ealing History Group has recently published a book about Adams' residency in their area, called An American President in Ealing. It costs only £10 plus £18 shipping to the USA. Shipping to the U.K. is free. It appears to be primarily a collection of pages from Adams' diary for the years 1815-1817, which you can read online, for free, at the Primary Source Cooperative at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Adams did not start using the premises at 13 Craven Street until mid-December 1815. Previous to that time, he had used an office at 25 Charles Street, in Mayfair. If he was aware that the new office was in close proximity to Benjamin Franklin's former digs, he didn't mention it in his diary.

From John Quincy Adams' diary, entry for December 15, 1815: "He [Mr. Smith, clerk] had found a place which suited him at N. 13. Craven Street between the Strand and the river; and I went with him and looked at the Chambers— I found them such as might answer— The price asked for them was 2 1/2 guineas a week; and I agreed that he should take them, if they are to be had for two guineas— One guinea a week is to be allowed for the Office, the same which has been paid at Charles Street."