Tite Street was laid out from 1877 by the Metropolitan Board of Works to give access to the Chelsea Embankment. The street was named after William Tite who was a member of the Board of Works.
Gough House stood on the eastern side of the street, predating it being built around 1707. It became a school in 1830, then the Victoria Hospital for Children in 1866. The site is now occupied by St Wilfred’s convent and home for the elderly.
In the late 19th century, the street was a favoured and fashionable location for people of an artistic and literary disposition including Oscar Wilde, Gustav Pope (artist), John Singer Sargent (American portrait painter), James McNeill Whistler (artist), Wendela Boreel (artist) and Sir Wilfred Thesiger (explorer and travel writer).
