War Office for sale as part of cost-cutting drive The imposing central London block, which housed secretaries of state for war including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and John Profumo, is expected to be converted into a hotel. Philip Hammond, Defence Secretary, confirmed the sale: "As a result of our work to make the MoD leaner, more professional and more efficient, we are able to concentrate defence officials in London in a single building and sell the Old War Office." The Edwardian baroque building was begun in 1901 and completed five years later using 26,000 tonnes of Portland stone, 3,000 tonnes of York stone and 25m bricks. It has more than 1,000 rooms and two-and-a-half miles of corridors. The building was hit by bombs eight times during the Second World War, but escaped largely unscathed. The MoD has announced a string of property sales as it looks to cut costs, including the abandoned Brompton Road Tube station, which was a command bunker for anti-aircraft defences during the Second World War.