Steine House
Encyclopedia
Steine House is the former residence of Maria Fitzherbert, mistress and wife of the Prince Regent
, in the centre of Brighton
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Designed in 1804 by William Porden
, who was responsible for many buildings on the Prince's Royal Pavilion
estate, it was used by Fitzherbert until her death 33 years later. Regular rebuilding has affected the appearance of the house since 1805, when it was damaged by a storm; more changes took place in 1884, when the YMCA
bought it, and the building was "cruelly treated" by a refronting and extension in 1927. The YMCA continue to use the building, on Brighton's Old Steine
next to Marlborough House
, as a 65-person hostel. The extensive alterations have reduced its architectural importance, but the building has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage
for its historical connections.
) was one of the earliest and most important regular visitors to Brighton in its early years as a resort. It was transformed from a small fishing village after about 1750 when sea-bathing and drinking seawater
became fashionable and popular, on the advice of influential local doctor Richard Russell
. The Prince's first visit to the town, in 1783 at the age of 21, lasted 11 days and attracted thousands of people eager to see both him and the sights which had attracted him. The following year, he stayed for ten weeks of the summer to take the water cure. He visited again in 1785—the same year as he met and fell in love with Maria Fitzherbert, a widowed Roman Catholic. They married (illegally, against the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act 1772
) in December 1785, and she first visited Brighton the following year. At first, she stayed in a house whose site is believed to be near the present North Gate of the Royal Pavilion
; a terrace of nine houses, Marlborough Row, existed there until 1820, when all but one were demolished when the Royal Pavilion estate was redeveloped. (The surviving house, number 8, is now called North Gate House and stands alongside the North Gate.) Even when the Royal Pavilion, the Prince's Brighton residence, was completed in 1787, the couple never stayed in the same house together. Under pressure to undertake a legal marriage to produce an heir, they divorced in 1794 and the Prince married Caroline of Brunswick
; but they soon separated, and in June 1800 Mrs Fitzherbert and the Prince were reunited.
The royal couple sought a site for a permanent home for Mrs Fitzherbert, and in 1804 she commissioned the Prince's favoured architect William Porden
to design and build a house on the west side of Old Steine, next to Marlborough House
, to replace a Mr Tuppen's lodging house
. His design included a large colonnade
across the front in an Egyptian style
; this only lasted until the next year, when a storm destroyed it. He redesigned the façade in the Italianate style
instead, with verandah
s on both storeys. Maria Fitzherbert lived at Steine House until her death on 27 March 1837, after which she was buried at St John the Baptist's Church
, Brighton's oldest surviving Roman Catholic church. Throughout her life in Brighton, she was treated extremely well by high society (statesman and writer John Wilson Croker
remarked that "one reason why she may like this place is that she is treated as queen, at least of Brighton"), and for the first few decades of the 19th century Steine House was the second most important house in Brighton after the Royal Pavilion.
Steine House passed through several private owners after 1837, and finally passed out of residential use in the early 1860s when William Forder, a judge, sold it. At this time, a blocked staircase was discovered leading down from the cellar; false rumours abounded that a secret tunnel had been built between the house and the Royal Pavilion, and that the staircase led to this tunnel. It is considered more likely that the stairs gave access to Brighton's sewer network
. The building was converted into the Civil and United Services Club, a social club, which required major internal renovations; these were completed in 1864.
In 1884, the building was bought by the YMCA
. In 1927, they carried out a major reconstruction: the building was used as a hostel for vulnerable men, and more bedrooms were added; the exterior was rebuilt, removing the verandahs and balconies; and all remaining internal features except a staircase and a possibly original first-floor chapel were removed or altered. An Earl of Barrymore
once rode a horse up the cast-iron staircase, built to imitate bamboo
, to win a bet.
Steine House survived an attempt in 1964 to demolish it and replace it with offices, shops and a showroom. It is still owned by the YMCA, and functions as a 65-capacity short-term hostel. In July 2009, the building was badly damaged by fire, and its residents had to be temporarily rehoused; it was soon restored.
Steine House was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
on 13 October 1952. This status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. The listing has been granted on the basis of the building's historical worth rather than its architectural quality, reflecting the negative effects of the frequent alterations.
work. The roof is modern and in the mansard
style. The building has two storeys and an extra half-storey above.
The façade, facing east on to Old Steine
, was partly set forward during the 1927 work, and dates solely from that time. There are three straight-headed windows to the upper storey, and two flanking the entrance porch. The corners of the porch have pilaster
s topped with spheres. The ground-floor windows have small corbel
s underneath them and architrave
s above. The windows on the upper floor open out on to a balcony which is formed by the top of the projecting ground floor; this has four short piers
with ironwork between them. The top floor is an attic with a single centrally placed dormer window
.
Inside, most of Porden's intricately designed cast-iron staircase survives. It has fretwork
decoration and a balustrade
, also made of cast iron, in the style of the staircases in the Royal Pavilion, and was intended to look like bamboo. Also partly surviving, but without its original walls, is Maria Fitzherbert's oval-shaped private chapel on the first floor. No other original interior features are still in place.
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, in the centre of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Designed in 1804 by William Porden
William Porden
William Porden was a versatile English architect. Born in Kingston upon Hull, he trained under James Wyatt and Samuel Pepys Cockerell....
, who was responsible for many buildings on the Prince's Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion...
estate, it was used by Fitzherbert until her death 33 years later. Regular rebuilding has affected the appearance of the house since 1805, when it was damaged by a storm; more changes took place in 1884, when the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
bought it, and the building was "cruelly treated" by a refronting and extension in 1927. The YMCA continue to use the building, on Brighton's Old Steine
Old Steine
The Old Steine is a thoroughfare in central Brighton, East Sussex, and is the southern terminus of the A23. The southern end leads to Marine Parade, the Brighton seafront and the Palace Pier. The Old Steine is also the site of a number of City Centre bus stops for Brighton buses...
next to Marlborough House
Marlborough House, Brighton
Marlborough House is a mansion in Brighton on the south coast of England. It is a Grade I listed building. Located at 54 Old Steine, it was built as a red brick building circa 1765 for Samuel Shergold, a local hotelier...
, as a 65-person hostel. The extensive alterations have reduced its architectural importance, but the building has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
for its historical connections.
History
The Prince Regent (later King George IVGeorge IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
) was one of the earliest and most important regular visitors to Brighton in its early years as a resort. It was transformed from a small fishing village after about 1750 when sea-bathing and drinking seawater
Water cure (therapy)
A water cure in the therapeutic sense is a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy.-Overview:In the mid-19th century there was a popular revival of the water cure in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
became fashionable and popular, on the advice of influential local doctor Richard Russell
Richard Russell (doctor)
Richard Russell was an 18th century British Physician who encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of, seawater...
. The Prince's first visit to the town, in 1783 at the age of 21, lasted 11 days and attracted thousands of people eager to see both him and the sights which had attracted him. The following year, he stayed for ten weeks of the summer to take the water cure. He visited again in 1785—the same year as he met and fell in love with Maria Fitzherbert, a widowed Roman Catholic. They married (illegally, against the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act 1772
Royal Marriages Act 1772
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribes the conditions under which members of the British Royal Family may contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the Royal House...
) in December 1785, and she first visited Brighton the following year. At first, she stayed in a house whose site is believed to be near the present North Gate of the Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion...
; a terrace of nine houses, Marlborough Row, existed there until 1820, when all but one were demolished when the Royal Pavilion estate was redeveloped. (The surviving house, number 8, is now called North Gate House and stands alongside the North Gate.) Even when the Royal Pavilion, the Prince's Brighton residence, was completed in 1787, the couple never stayed in the same house together. Under pressure to undertake a legal marriage to produce an heir, they divorced in 1794 and the Prince married Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
; but they soon separated, and in June 1800 Mrs Fitzherbert and the Prince were reunited.
William Porden
William Porden was a versatile English architect. Born in Kingston upon Hull, he trained under James Wyatt and Samuel Pepys Cockerell....
to design and build a house on the west side of Old Steine, next to Marlborough House
Marlborough House
Marlborough House is a mansion in Westminster, London, in Pall Mall just east of St James's Palace. It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. The Duchess wanted her new house to be "strong, plain and convenient and good"...
, to replace a Mr Tuppen's lodging house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
. His design included a large colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
across the front in an Egyptian style
Ancient Egyptian architecture
The Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing ancient Egyptian architecture...
; this only lasted until the next year, when a storm destroyed it. He redesigned the façade in the Italianate style
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
instead, with verandah
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
s on both storeys. Maria Fitzherbert lived at Steine House until her death on 27 March 1837, after which she was buried at St John the Baptist's Church
St John the Baptist's Church, Brighton
St John the Baptist's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Kemptown area of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was the first Roman Catholic church built in Brighton after the process of Catholic Emancipation in the early 19th century removed restrictions on Catholic worship...
, Brighton's oldest surviving Roman Catholic church. Throughout her life in Brighton, she was treated extremely well by high society (statesman and writer John Wilson Croker
John Wilson Croker
John Wilson Croker was an Irish statesman and author.He was born at Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated in 1800...
remarked that "one reason why she may like this place is that she is treated as queen, at least of Brighton"), and for the first few decades of the 19th century Steine House was the second most important house in Brighton after the Royal Pavilion.
Steine House passed through several private owners after 1837, and finally passed out of residential use in the early 1860s when William Forder, a judge, sold it. At this time, a blocked staircase was discovered leading down from the cellar; false rumours abounded that a secret tunnel had been built between the house and the Royal Pavilion, and that the staircase led to this tunnel. It is considered more likely that the stairs gave access to Brighton's sewer network
Brighton sewers
Brighton, part of the city of Brighton and Hove in England, United Kingdom, is home to an extensive system of Victorian sewers running under the town in addition to a large modern storm drain under the beach....
. The building was converted into the Civil and United Services Club, a social club, which required major internal renovations; these were completed in 1864.
In 1884, the building was bought by the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. In 1927, they carried out a major reconstruction: the building was used as a hostel for vulnerable men, and more bedrooms were added; the exterior was rebuilt, removing the verandahs and balconies; and all remaining internal features except a staircase and a possibly original first-floor chapel were removed or altered. An Earl of Barrymore
Earl of Barrymore
Earl of Barrymore is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created for David Barry in 1627/28. Lord Barrymore held the subsidiary titles of Baron Barry , and Viscount Buttevant in the County of Cork in Ireland...
once rode a horse up the cast-iron staircase, built to imitate bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, to win a bet.
Steine House survived an attempt in 1964 to demolish it and replace it with offices, shops and a showroom. It is still owned by the YMCA, and functions as a 65-capacity short-term hostel. In July 2009, the building was badly damaged by fire, and its residents had to be temporarily rehoused; it was soon restored.
Steine House was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 13 October 1952. This status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. The listing has been granted on the basis of the building's historical worth rather than its architectural quality, reflecting the negative effects of the frequent alterations.
Architecture
The work done to Steine House in 1927, which drastically changed its appearance, has been universally condemned: historians have described the building as being "cruelly treated", "sadly transformed" and "disastrously refronted". It now presents a façade of grey-painted brick with some stuccoStucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
work. The roof is modern and in the mansard
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
style. The building has two storeys and an extra half-storey above.
The façade, facing east on to Old Steine
Old Steine
The Old Steine is a thoroughfare in central Brighton, East Sussex, and is the southern terminus of the A23. The southern end leads to Marine Parade, the Brighton seafront and the Palace Pier. The Old Steine is also the site of a number of City Centre bus stops for Brighton buses...
, was partly set forward during the 1927 work, and dates solely from that time. There are three straight-headed windows to the upper storey, and two flanking the entrance porch. The corners of the porch have pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s topped with spheres. The ground-floor windows have small corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s underneath them and architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s above. The windows on the upper floor open out on to a balcony which is formed by the top of the projecting ground floor; this has four short piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
with ironwork between them. The top floor is an attic with a single centrally placed dormer window
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
.
Inside, most of Porden's intricately designed cast-iron staircase survives. It has fretwork
Fretwork
Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly used are wood and metal. Fretwork is used to adorn...
decoration and a balustrade
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
, also made of cast iron, in the style of the staircases in the Royal Pavilion, and was intended to look like bamboo. Also partly surviving, but without its original walls, is Maria Fitzherbert's oval-shaped private chapel on the first floor. No other original interior features are still in place.