I’m going on a house tour….

As a relatively new member to the team of volunteers at the Regency Town House, I had the opportunity to take a tour of 13 Brunswick Square, the home of the MyHouseMyStreet project, last month, with curator Nick Tyson. The tour, lasting roughly ninety minutes, is a fantastic opportunity to gain a real insight into the development of Regency architecture and how the process of restoring a house, such as number 13 takes place.

Beginning in the impressive dining room, Nick then guides the tour around the other rooms in the house, including the less formal, but no less grand, drawing room on the first floor. Throughout Nick highlights important aspects of historical architecture, and features of the house that give you an idea of how the house’s previous inhabitants lived. As well as the main house, the tour also provides the opportunity to explore a former servant quarters in the basement of 10 Brunswick Square. This space, which a number of my fellow volunteers have fallen in love with and would like to live in, is deceptively large, and full of character.

It is easy to imagine the hustle and bustle of staff, each charging around following the orders of either the Butler or the Housekeeper. The highlight of the basement, and for me the whole building, is the kitchen, the room is jaw-droppingly beautiful, even though it has not been fully restored yet, the main feature of the room is a stunning skylight, which floods the room with natural light. The kitchen breathes its own history, and I defy anyone not to be blown away by it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, finding it extremely informative, and interesting. It has helped bring the MyStreetMyHouse project to life for me, and I am looking forward to finding out about more of Brighton and Hove’s’ hidden gems.

If anyone is interested in taking a tour, they are run for the public during the warmer times of the year, in particular during the Brighton Festival. Nearer the time information of dates will be available on the MyHouseMyStreet sister website rth.org.uk.