"Mr Turveydrop’s great room, which was built out into a mews at the back, and was lighted by a skylight. It was a bare, resounding room, smelling of stables;"

An interesting sequence of meanings.
mew (n.2) - "cage," mid-14c., from O.Fr. mue "cage for hawks, especially when molting," from muer "to molt," from L. mutare "to change" (see mutate).
mews - early 17c. from Mewes, name of the royal stables at Charing Cross, built 1534 on the site of the former royal mews, where the king's hawks were kept (see mew (n.2)). Extended 19c. to "street of former stables converted to human habitations."

there are several mews in Mews in manhattan, for a mere million buck or two, you too, could live in an old, (150 to 200 year) building that formerly housed horses..there is a nice looking mews, in the village, between university avenue (named for NYU) and 5th avenue, just above 8th street..i think its a private street, its gated.- most day though, you can walk through.