Regency Town House

Last updated

The Regency Town House
The old kitchen at 10 Brunswick Square.jpg
The old kitchen at 10 Brunswick Square. It is part of The Regency Town House at 13 Brunswick Square. The kitchen is virtually untouched by time. [1]
East Sussex UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location in East Sussex, England
General information
StatusCompleted
Type Townhouse
Architectural style Regency
LocationBrunswick Square, Brunswick, an area of Hove in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, England
Country United Kingdom
Coordinates 50°49′28″N0°09′30″W / 50.8245°N 0.1583°W / 50.8245; -0.1583
Completed1820;204 years ago (1820)
OwnerNick Tyson
Designations Grade I listed
Renovating team
Other designersNick Tyson

The Regency Town House is a Grade I listed historic town house, [2] now a museum, in Brunswick, an area of Hove in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, England. The Regency Town House is located at 13 Brunswick Square near the beach in Hove. Brunswick Square forms part of Brunswick Town. The house was built in the 1820s. [2] It was designed in the Regency architectural style by Charles Augustin Busby. [2]

Contents

The house is being restored by a team headed by Nick Tyson, a curator. [3] Two full-time members of staff are performing the restoration with a team of volunteers. They hope to transform the building into a museum and heritage centre. [4]

Description

The Regency Town House has a dining room and a parlour on the ground floor. On the half-landing, there is a waiting room and a water closet. On the first floor are the drawing rooms. These rooms could be used separately, by using folding doors, or as one large party space. The upper storeys had bedrooms, these rooms now house the offices of the project. The basement was where the servants worked, with access from the front area and also behind through the stables. [5]

A part of The Regency Town House project is located at 10 Brunswick Square. This is the last intact basement in the Square. It provides an insight into servant life. [1] Visitors can walk down the stairs from the street to a front basement area that has a stone-flagged floor. There is a coal cellar under the street which would have provided the fuel for the fireplaces upstairs. Next to the coal cellar is a beer cellar. The first right on the right is the housekeeper's room, next to this is the wine cellar. It has double doors, the second is iron-lined. This acts as an extra precaution again theft from servants. Next is a servant's hall. Large in this house as there would have been 8-12 servants. The room overlooks a small courtyard. On the other side of this courtyard is the kitchen. It has a large skylight and it's said that its layout was influenced by the Prince Regent's famous kitchen at the Brighton Pavilion. [1]

Restoration project

In 1984 Nick Tyson, the owner decided to reassemble a whole 1829 terraced house in Hove's Brunswick Square. He first bought the basement flat. Then he bought the remaining flats as the other tenants left. He plans to restore the building as authentically as possible. Every detail will be restored authentically. It will be opened to the public. The period craftsmanship will be showcased this way. [1]

Nick Tyson founded the Town House project in the 1980s. After he discovered Regency-style architecture in the United States, he observed that Brighton and Hove's historic buildings were being converted with little care and attention, which concerned him. Tyson and his partner at the time bought the lease of an uninhabitable basement flat at 13 Brunswick Square and decided to take a year out to restore it before returning to the United States. However, leases of the other flats began to become available and Tyson could see the possibility of putting the house back together again. [6] The building started as flats and is now a complete house again.

In 1992 the Brunswick Town Charitable trust appealed to Brighton and Hove residents to help find fireplaces for the drawing room and a ceiling rose for the dining room that it hoped artists could replicate. The Trust's spokeswoman at the time said that they were 'at a standstill and not sure where to turn'. The plan was to photograph original fire places and ceiling roses and then to copy them for the Town House. [7]

The restoration work uses traditional techniques and materials where it is possible to do so. The Town House is being returned to its former glory with the help of a team of volunteers. [8] It is being slowly restored. Every tour and event which raises money means funds for more restoration. [9]

Layers of peeling paint have been removed. The mouldings and plasterwork had been repaired by experts in plasterwork. Analysis was carried out on finishes that were original to the property by paint expert Patrick Baty. [10] This information will be used to recreate decoration in other parts of the project. The goal of the Town House project is to offer complete access to all rooms in the house. The project would like the rooms to appear to as guests as they would have when the house was first occupied. [9]

Regular fundraising activities including Dine Like a Servant are held to support restoration of the townhouses. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The townhouses are also an exhibition venue and in 2018 held an exhibition by the artist Suzanne O‘Haire. [18]

Funding

On the 17th December 2020 The Regency Town House was awarded an Art Fund Grant.

Councillor Mac Cafferty, representing Brunswick and Adelaide Ward at the time, commented:

"It’s a fitting tribute to the team of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers, headed up by the tireless Nick Tyson, who have worked so hard to bring this project to life. The funding will provide a lifeline for the house which, like museums and art galleries across the country, has been severely affected by the current Covid crisis. The Regency Town House plays a crucial role in understanding the history of our city, as well as providing a unique and much-loved arts venue.” [19]

In media

The house was used as a filming location for the 2022 romantic film My Policeman . [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemp Town</span> 19th-century residential estate in Brighton

Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and the Kemp Town Enclosures. The estate was conceived and financed by Thomas Read Kemp, designed by Charles Busby and Amon Henry Wilds, and constructed by Thomas Cubitt. Work began in 1823 and it was completed in 1855. It has given its name to the larger Kemptown region of Brighton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlborough House, Brighton</span> Grade I listed building in the United Kingdom

Marlborough House is a mansion at 54, Old Steine, Brighton on the south coast of England. It is a Grade I listed building. Initially it was built for Samuel Shergold in the 1760s. It was sold to its second owner, 4th Duke of Marlborough, in 1786 it was bought by William G. Hamilton and altered to a neoclassical house by Robert Adam. After being owned by the Brighton School Board and Brighton and Hove City Council, it was sold to a local businessman in 1999. Since then, the building has stood empty and original features have been destroyed, leading to several courtcases. Marlborough House in Brighton is the second most important historic property after the Royal Pavilion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Busby (architect)</span> English architect

Charles Augustin Busby was an English architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunswick, Hove</span> House in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex

Brunswick Town is an area in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It is best known for the Regency architecture of the Brunswick estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy Court</span> Historic site in East Sussex, United Kingdom

Embassy Court is an 11-storey block of flats on the seafront in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has been listed at Grade II* by English Heritage. Wells Coates' "extremely controversial" piece of Modernist architecture has "divided opinion across the city" since its completion in 1935, and continues to generate strong feelings among residents, architectural historians and conservationists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunswick Terrace Synagogue</span> Former Orthodox synagogue, now listed building, in Hove, England

The Brunswick Terrace Synagogue, also sometimes called the Roof-top synagogue, was a private Orthodox Jewish synagogue that was built on the roof-top of 26 Brunswick Terrace, a terraced-row of houses on the Brunswick Estate in Hove, now a constituent part of the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, England, in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wykeham Terrace, Brighton</span> Historic site in East Sussex, United Kingdom

Wykeham Terrace is a row of 12 early 19th-century houses in central Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The Tudor-Gothic building, attributed to prominent local architect Amon Henry Wilds, is built into the hillside below the churchyard of Brighton's ancient parish church. Uses since its completion in 1830 have included a home for former prostitutes and a base for the Territorial Army, but the terrace is now exclusively residential again. Its "charming" architecture is unusual in Brighton, whose 19th-century buildings are predominantly in the Regency style. English Heritage has listed the terrace at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Pavilion</span> Historic site in East Sussex , United Kingdom

The Western Pavilion is an exotically designed early 19th-century house in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Local architect Amon Henry Wilds, one of the most important figures in Brighton's development from modest fishing village to fashionable seaside resort, built the distinctive two-storey house between 1827 and 1828 as his own residence, and incorporated many inventive details while paying homage to the Royal Pavilion, Brighton's most famous and distinctive building. Although the house has been altered and a shopfront inserted, it is still in residential use, and has been listed at Grade II* by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buildings and architecture of Brighton and Hove</span>

Brighton and Hove, a city on the English Channel coast in southeast England, has a large and diverse stock of buildings "unrivalled architecturally" among the country's seaside resorts. The urban area, designated a city in 2000, is made up of the formerly separate towns of Brighton and Hove, nearby villages such as Portslade, Patcham and Rottingdean, and 20th-century estates such as Moulsecoomb and Mile Oak. The conurbation was first united in 1997 as a unitary authority and has a population of about 253,000. About half of the 20,430-acre (8,270 ha) geographical area is classed as built up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regency Square, Brighton</span> Square in Brighton, UK

Regency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the British city of Brighton and Hove. Conceived by speculative developer Joshua Hanson as Brighton underwent its rapid transformation into a fashionable resort, the three-sided "set piece" of 69 houses and associated structures was built between 1818 and 1832. Most of the houses overlooking the central garden were complete by 1824. The site was previously known, briefly and unofficially, as Belle Vue Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Manor, Brighton</span> Historic site in Brighton and Hove , United Kingdom

Preston Manor is the former manor house of the ancient Sussex village of Preston, now part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove, England. The present building dates mostly from 1738, when Lord of the manor Thomas Western rebuilt the original 13th-century structure, and 1905 when Charles Stanley Peach's renovation and enlargement gave the house its current appearance. The manor house passed through several owners, including the Stanfords—reputedly the richest family in Sussex—after several centuries of ownership by the Diocese of Chichester and a period in which it was Crown property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Georgian House, Edinburgh</span> National trust house in Edinburgh

The Georgian House is an 18th-century townhouse situated at No. 7 Charlotte Square in the heart of the historic New Town of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, and is operated as a popular tourist attraction, with over 40,000 visitors annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwydyr Mansions</span> Mansion flats in Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

Gwydyr Mansions is a block of mansion flats in the centre of Hove, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built on the initiative of a Baptist pastor and designed by the prolific architecture firm of Clayton & Black, the "elegant" Flemish Renaissance-style building dates from 1890 and overlooks a central square. As originally built, the block had a restaurant and barber shop for residents; the latter is still operational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmeira Square</span> 19th century residences in Hove, England

Palmeira Square is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the seafront; large terraced houses occupy its west and east sides, separated by a public garden; and at the north end is one of Hove's main road junctions. This is also called Palmeira Square, and its north side is lined with late 19th-century terraced mansions. Commercial buildings and a church also stand on the main road, which is served by Brighton & Hove bus routes 1, 1A, N1, 2, 5, 5A, 5B, N5, 6, 25, 46, 49, 60, 71, 71A and 96.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide Crescent</span> 19th century residences in Hove, England

Adelaide Crescent is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. Conceived as an ambitious attempt to rival the large, high-class Kemp Town estate east of Brighton, the crescent was not built to its original plan because time and money were insufficient. Nevertheless, together with its northerly neighbour Palmeira Square, it forms one of Hove's most important architectural set-pieces. Building work started in 1830 to the design of Decimus Burton. The adjacent land was originally occupied by "the world's largest conservatory", the Anthaeum; its collapse stopped construction of the crescent, which did not resume until the 1850s. The original design was modified and the crescent was eventually finished in the mid-1860s. Together with the Kemp Town and Brunswick Town estates, the crescent is one of the foremost pre-Victorian residential developments in the Brighton area: it has been claimed that "outside Bath, [they] have no superior in England". The buildings in the main part of Adelaide Crescent are Grade II* listed. Some of the associated buildings at the sea-facing south end are listed at the lower Grade II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Town Hall, England</span> Municipal building in Brighton, East Sussex, England

Brighton Town Hall stands on Bartholomew Square in Brighton, East Sussex, England. The town hall contains a number of police cells which were in use until the 1960s, and which now form the Old Police Cells Museum. The town hall is a Grade II listed building. It was formerly the headquarters of Brighton Borough Council and is still used for some meetings of the successor Brighton and Hove City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower House, Brighton</span> Grade II listed building in Brighton, United Kingdom

Tower House is a former private house in the Withdean area of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1902 for a former jeweller to King Edward VII, it remained in private ownership until it was converted into flats and a daycare centre in 1988. It is one of the few large houses and villas to survive in the high-class Withdean area—many were demolished in favour of blocks of flats after World War II—and it has been described as "Brighton's finest example of a grand Edwardian house". English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

The Brighton Herald was a weekly newspaper covering the boroughs of Brighton and Hove in southeast England. Founded in 1806 as the first newspaper in the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, it survived until 1971 and was one of England's "leading provincial weekly" newspapers—being the first publication in the country to report several important international events, such as Napoleon's escape and the start of the July Revolution. Based in the centre of Brighton throughout its 165-year existence, it moved in 1934 to new premises at Pavilion Buildings, near the Royal Pavilion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence House, Brighton</span> Former hotel in Brighton

Clarence House, previously the New Inn (1785–1830) and the Clarence Hotel (1830–1972), is a former coaching inn and hotel in Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The only surviving coaching inn of many which used to stand on North Street, Brighton's main commercial thoroughfare, it retains much of its original "severely plain" Georgian appearance, with Classical features and mathematical tiles; but the interior has been changed since its closure in 1972 and conversion into a mixed-use commercial building. The four-storey structure, which is in a conservation area and which has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance, is empty and has been vandalised and squatted repeatedly, but planning applications were raised in 2021 and 2022 for the creation of two flats and a new restaurant within the building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Binney, Marcus (1998). Town Houses - Evolution and Innovation in 800 Years of Domestic Architecture. Great Britain: Mitchell Beazley. pp. 94, 95, 96, 97. ISBN   1840000295.
  2. 1 2 3 Regency Town House, Brighton Festival
  3. "The house that Nick restored". The Argus. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. Fergar, Ellis (26 June 2018). "A window into the past— Regency Town House Hove". Title Sussex Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. Antram, Morrice, Nicholas, Richard (2008). Brighton and Hove. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 115. ISBN   9780300126617.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. "Elaine Evans interviews - Nick Tyson" . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  7. "Help replace part of history". The Argus. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  8. Fergar, Ellis (26 June 2018). "A window into the past— Regency Town House Hove". Title Sussex Magazine. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 Seymour, Ellie (2018). Secret Brighton. Versailles, France: Jonglez Publishing - travel guides. pp. 122–123. ISBN   9782361952648.
  10. "Brunswick Square, Hove | Patrick Baty – Historical paint consultant".
  11. Rosemary (1 February 2019). "Dine Like a Servant at The Regency Town House". Rosemary and Pork Belly. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  12. "Regency Town House serves up period dinner". The Argus. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  13. Richard Vobes, Bald Explorer Podcast: Dine Like A Servant at the Regency Town House , retrieved 10 February 2019
  14. "Dine Like A Servant | Brighton Info". interests.me. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  15. Darren Menezes, Dine like a servant April 2018 , retrieved 10 February 2019
  16. Darren Menezes, Halloween Dine like a Servant 31 Oct 2018 , retrieved 10 February 2019
  17. Couchman, Paul. "How do you Dine Like A Servant? – Paul Couchman on Food and History" . Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  18. "Visit to Suzanne O'Haire: Peck O' Trouble | Blue Monkey Network". Towner Art Gallery. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  19. "Funding boost for Regency Town House". www.brighton-hove.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  20. Cipirska, Isabella (5 May 2021). "Harry Styles seen filming in Hove: "It's quite exciting"". Sussex World. Retrieved 16 January 2023.