In the Dark

Tidying up the flat before my Christmas travels, I found a little piece of paper in a drawer with the following potted history of Portland Place.

The development of Portland Place commenced around 1824, when Major Villeroy Russell commissioned Charles Augustus Busby as architect for the design of the street and houses. There was a most unfortunate incident on the night of 12th September 1825, during the building of the street, when the principal house caught fire and was totally destroyed. As it was not insured, Major Russell had to bear the estimated £12,000 loss himself. The first occupant moved into Number 11 in 1827 but the buildings to replace the one destroyed by fire were not completed until 1829. Building work continued in the street until almost up to the 1850s, so the dates of individual buildings may vary considerably.

That all explains why this street lacks the homogeneity of style possessed by some its grander neighbours, though the houses are still looking pretty good for their age!

This entry was posted on December 23, 2013 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Biographical, Brighton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.