Decimus has been described, by architectural scholar Guy Williams, as 'rich, cool, well-dressed, apparently celibate, the designer and prime member of the Athenaeum, one of London's grandest gentlemens' clubs'  where Burton 'mixed with many of the greatest in the land, meeting the most creative as well as those with enormous hereditary wealth'.
By 1826, the name of Decimus Burton 'was on the lips of everyone who cared at all about the arts and architecture': he was 'very well liked [and] his modesty, politeness, and upright bearing were endearing' and 'his integrity and professional competence were worthy of the greatest respect'.
Burton was treated by the aristocracy 'more as a friend than as a professional advisor' and his close friendships with, and patronage by, the aristocracy were undamaged by the vituperation of both his person and his neoclassical architecture by Augustus Pugin and his disciples.
The Proceedings of the Royal Society commended Burton's 'extreme amiability of character'.

The Burtons' social circle included Princess Victoria; the Duchess of Kent; William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire; John Wilson Croker; John Nash; Sir Humphry Davy; George Bellas Greenough; Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood; and their Canadian cousin, Thomas Chandler Haliburton.
Decimus and his siblings, Jane, James (b.1786), Septimus, the solicitor, Octavia, and Jessy, would host Thomas on his visits to London.

Decimus was 'on excellent terms' with Princess Victoria, and with the Duchess of Kent.
The Princess and the Duchess, with several courtiers, had laid the foundation stone of a Decimus Burton School in Tunbridge Wells, and, five weeks later, in autumn 1834, they had stayed, by Decimus's invitation, at James Burton's private villa at St Leonards-on-Sea, until several weeks into 1835.

From 1818, Burton resided, with his father,  at The Holme, Regent's Park, which has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London', which was designed as the Burton family mansion by Decimus, and built by James Burton's own company.
The Holme was the second villa to be built in Regent's Park, and the first of those to be designed or constructed by the Burton family.
The hallmark of the Burton design is the large semi-circular bay that divided the principal elevation, and which extended for two storeys.
The original villa also had a conservatory of polygonal form, which used wrought iron glazing bars, then only recently patented, instead of the then customary wooden bars.
The first villa to be constructed in the park was St. John's Lodge by John Raffield.

Burton bought from the Crown a plot at Spring Gardens, St. James's Park, at the east end of The Mall, where he constructed, in the Georgian neoclassical townhouse style, No.
10, 12, and 14 Spring Gardens, as both his townhouse and his principal office.
The buildings no longer exist, but elevations of them appear in the former LCC's Survey of London Vol.
XX, and views of their interiors have been preserved in Hastings Museum.
At the end of 1834, Burton had two 'comfortable well-staffed homes', one in Spring Gardens and one at Tunbridge Wells, where he had another office at No.
10 Calverley Parade, where the Tunbridge Wells Civic Centre now stands.
Guy Williams records that, for Decimus, 'Money was rolling in.
Income tax was of no concern. [
Decimus] had a brother who could look after his business affairs and see to his investments'.

Burton retired in 1869, and subsequently resided at his homes at Gloucester Gardens, Kensington, and St. Leonards Lodge, St. Leonards-on-Sea, which adjoined 'The Uplands' and 'The Lawn' developments which he had designed.
He never married nor had issue.
He died in December 1881, at 1 Gloucester Road, Kensington, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, alongside his brother Henry Burton, and his sister Jessy Burton.
Decimus was the last of his siblings to die.
Over his grave is a tapering sarcophagus of grey Cornish granite, on a stepped base, with a shallow pyramidal cover.
His tomb was Grade II listed building in 2001.
On his death, his property, i
Decimus has been described, by architectural scholar Guy Williams, as 'rich, cool, well-dressed, apparently celibate, the designer and prime member of the Athenaeum, one of London's grandest gentlemens' clubs'  where Burton 'mixed with many of the greatest in the land, meeting the most creative as well as those with enormous hereditary wealth'. By 1826, the name of Decimus Burton 'was on the lips of everyone who cared at all about the arts and architecture': he was 'very well liked [and] his modesty, politeness, and upright bearing were endearing' and 'his integrity and professional competence were worthy of the greatest respect'. Burton was treated by the aristocracy 'more as a friend than as a professional advisor' and his close friendships with, and patronage by, the aristocracy were undamaged by the vituperation of both his person and his neoclassical architecture by Augustus Pugin and his disciples. The Proceedings of the Royal Society commended Burton's 'extreme amiability of character'.
The Burtons' social circle included Princess Victoria; the Duchess of Kent; William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire; John Wilson Croker; John Nash; Sir Humphry Davy; George Bellas Greenough; Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood; and their Canadian cousin, Thomas Chandler Haliburton. Decimus and his siblings, Jane, James (b.1786), Septimus, the solicitor, Octavia, and Jessy, would host Thomas on his visits to London.
Decimus was 'on excellent terms' with Princess Victoria, and with the Duchess of Kent. The Princess and the Duchess, with several courtiers, had laid the foundation stone of a Decimus Burton School in Tunbridge Wells, and, five weeks later, in autumn 1834, they had stayed, by Decimus's invitation, at James Burton's private villa at St Leonards-on-Sea, until several weeks into 1835.
From 1818, Burton resided, with his father,  at The Holme, Regent's Park, which has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London', which was designed as the Burton family mansion by Decimus, and built by James Burton's own company. The Holme was the second villa to be built in Regent's Park, and the first of those to be designed or constructed by the Burton family. The hallmark of the Burton design is the large semi-circular bay that divided the principal elevation, and which extended for two storeys. The original villa also had a conservatory of polygonal form, which used wrought iron glazing bars, then only recently patented, instead of the then customary wooden bars. The first villa to be constructed in the park was St. John's Lodge by John Raffield.
Burton bought from the Crown a plot at Spring Gardens, St. James's Park, at the east end of The Mall, where he constructed, in the Georgian neoclassical townhouse style, No. 10, 12, and 14 Spring Gardens, as both his townhouse and his principal office. The buildings no longer exist, but elevations of them appear in the former LCC's Survey of London Vol. XX, and views of their interiors have been preserved in Hastings Museum. At the end of 1834, Burton had two 'comfortable well-staffed homes', one in Spring Gardens and one at Tunbridge Wells, where he had another office at No. 10 Calverley Parade, where the Tunbridge Wells Civic Centre now stands. Guy Williams records that, for Decimus, 'Money was rolling in. Income tax was of no concern. [Decimus] had a brother who could look after his business affairs and see to his investments'.
Burton retired in 1869, and subsequently resided at his homes at Gloucester Gardens, Kensington, and St. Leonards Lodge, St. Leonards-on-Sea, which adjoined 'The Uplands' and 'The Lawn' developments which he had designed. He never married nor had issue. He died in December 1881, at 1 Gloucester Road, Kensington, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, alongside his brother Henry Burton, and his sister Jessy Burton. Decimus was the last of his siblings to die. Over his grave is a tapering sarcophagus of grey Cornish granite, on a stepped base, with a shallow pyramidal cover. His tomb was Grade II listed building in 2001. On his death, his property, i
Decimus Burton