This western portion of the Square was the first built, and at least one other occupant, Robert Gladstone ( uncle of the future prime minister) did a similar thing, initially living at number 7 and then relocating to number eleven once the southern houses were completed a few years later.
The new square was a prestige address, and the first houses built were one of the few places the wealthy and influential would see and admire on their way to and from Roscoe's wonderful first Botanic Garden at the top of Oxford Street.