Talk:20 Frith Street

:{{re|Russ London}} Hi, thanks for your message. Sorry it's taken several years to reply. I'm one of those editors who tend to let an article go its own way once it's been published, rather than take [[WP:OWN|ownership]] of it: it's been many moons since I looked at my watchlist, or this talk page. You raise some valid points. I wrote this article in 2013 at the beginning of my wiki-career, and I freely admit that I now have no idea why I suggested that Cooze pulled the house down and rebuilt it. Google search has now changed utterly, and any sources I may have found at the time have probably now vanished. I may well have jumped to conclusions. However, rather than instantly delete my assertions, how about we hunt around for other sources concerning the surrounding houses that confirm your suggestion that the building survived until the 1930s? Somewhere I have a "Then-and-now" photo comparing Frith Street in the 1930s to the present(-ish) day. Best wishes, [[User:MinorProphet|MinorProphet]] ([[User talk:MinorProphet|talk]]) 13:20, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

:{{re|Russ London}} Hi, thanks for your message. Sorry it's taken several years to reply. I'm one of those editors who tend to let an article go its own way once it's been published, rather than take [[WP:OWN|ownership]] of it: it's been many moons since I looked at my watchlist, or this talk page. You raise some valid points. I wrote this article in 2013 at the beginning of my wiki-career, and I freely admit that I now have no idea why I suggested that Cooze pulled the house down and rebuilt it. Google search has now changed utterly, and any sources I may have found at the time have probably now vanished. I may well have jumped to conclusions. However, rather than instantly delete my assertions, how about we hunt around for other sources concerning the surrounding houses that confirm your suggestion that the building survived until the 1930s? Somewhere I have a "Then-and-now" photo comparing Frith Street in the 1930s to the present(-ish) day. Best wishes, [[User:MinorProphet|MinorProphet]] ([[User talk:MinorProphet|talk]]) 13:20, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

::@[[User:MinorProphet|MinorProphet]]: Hi, and thanks for eventually getting back to me! Unsurprisingly, I'd forgotten I ever made that Talk contribution.

::I agree that your assertions shouldn't instantly be deleted. Judging by the section you wrote about him, you did a fair bit of research into the activities of William Cooze, so you may well have come across a claim that he demolished and rebuilt the house in which Mozart had stayed. Alternatively, you may have "jumped to conclusions" about the extent of his transformation of the premises. I can't find anything online that would directly clear this up – although, as I said above, the ''Survey of London'' seems to suggest that the 18th-century building survived into the 20th century. To be honest, I'm doubtful whether your proposed indirect method of investigating the history of the surrounding houses might help much.

::The most useful thing I could find online was a photograph in the ''Look and Learn'' archive,https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/XJ100492/Mozarts-residence-at-20-Frith-Street-Soho which shows the building that previously stood on the site, with the caption: "Mozart's residence during his visit to London in 1764-5. Still standing (20 Frith Street, W.C.)." The accompanying info says it's a "19th-century" photo, but it could well be the same one that appeared in the ''Musical Standard'' in 1908. It's clearly a different structure from the present one, not least in its height – so that would at least seem to disprove the suggestion that the "1858 building" has, since 1930, served as the stage door entrance to the Prince Edward Theatre.

::Best wishes, [[User:Russ London|Russ London]] ([[User talk:Russ London|talk]]) 08:18, 20 April 2026 (UTC) [[User:Russ London|Russ London]] ([[User talk:Russ London|talk]]) 08:18, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

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