MARLBOROUGH HOUSE
By Robert Nemeth - Regency Society Campaigner
Unbeknown to many local residents, the building pictured below is widely regarded as Brighton’s second most important building. Marlborough House was built in 1765 for Samuel Shergold, a local hotelier, on the Old Steine at the bottom of North Street. It is only rivalled by the Pavilion in its exciting history and is halfway through a much needed internal and external makeover. I met with Nick Tyson, the man behind Brunswick Square’s Regency Town House Museum and local politician, Mike Weatherley, for a private tour.
The Duke of Marlborough bought the building in 1771 and it wasn’t until after he sold up that it took his name. Back then, the facade was red-brick with five bay windows across the front. William ‘Single Speech’ Hamilton bought it in 1786 and employed the famous Scottish architect, Robert Adam (1728-1792) to turn the then much smaller building into a house that the Paris Hiltons and Tara Palmer-Tomkinsons of yesteryear would have been proud to party in.
All of what is to the left of the middle chimney (see photo) was added in an extension by Adam. He removed the whole first floor across the front (but not the back) of the building to give double height downstairs rooms - ideal for entertaining. The interior layout is far more complicated than it looks from the outside. He had to move external windows and doors to retain symmetry which was of course extremely expensive but still cheaper than rebuilding from scratch.
This Georgian masterpiece, being rather costly to maintain, fell into an appalling state over the years and it wasn’t until Tony Antoniades bought the building from a particularly controversial owner (Brighton & Hove Council!) that changes for the better were made. With international museum man, Nick Tyson, overseeing the restoration project, the residents of Brighton can sleep soundly knowing that the job will be done properly.
Go
to rth.org.uk for Regency Town House Museum info.