Number 5 York Villas is a four story late 19th century town house in central Brighton, within sight of Brighton central railway station and close to Seven Dials.
I bought the house some 10 years ago, and have spend the time since gradually renovating it.
A large envelope of old documents came with the house, relating to its construction and early ownership - it was this that sparked our interest in its history.
As part of her university degree, Caroline (my wife) investigated further, and I then created this website based on her findings.
So, did we find anything earth shattering ? Sadly not. No famous people, no body under the floorboards, no scandal, just the story of a fairly typical Victorian house.
From the records and the extensive renovations, we now know a lot about the house itself and the changes made to it over the years, but we know little of the people who actually lived in it, other than names, dates and occasionally occupations.
We have also looked into the history of the road and surrounding area, which is probably of more interest to those not familiar with the house itself.
One disappointment in this investigation has been the lack of any old photographs of York Villas or the house itself. If anyone has any, we would love to see them.
Jonathan Taylor
May 2002