Stanmer House is a Grade I listed mansion set in Stanmer Park west of the village of Falmer and north-east of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England.
The house stands close to Stanmer village and Church, within Stanmer Park. Constructed by the French architect Nicholas Dubois in 1722 in a Palladian style for the Pelham family, it incorporates the remains of an earlier house, and was again altered in 1860.
The house and park were bought by the local authority in 1947. [1] The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1954; [2] the former stables, built c. 1725 but much altered, are Grade II* listed. [3]
Close to the University of Sussex campus, the house was used as a university administration building for some years in the 1960s while the campus was being built in the eastern portion of the park. After undergoing extensive renovation, it reopened in June 2006 and for use as a restaurant and events venue.
In 2009, the Willkommen Collective started a music festival at Stanmer House. [4] The first event featured performances from The Leisure Society, Robert Stillman, Peggy Sue and more in Stanmer House and grounds. The second festival took place on 12 September 2010 and was named Foxtrot. The lineup included Laura Marling, Anna Calvi, Francois & the Atlas Mountains and Sons of Noel and Adrian. [5] The third annual festival took place in September 2011 and featured Hannah Peel, Sam Amidon, This Is The Kit and more. [6]
Alexander Proud took over the lease of Stanmer House in 2016, renaming the House "Proud Stanmer House". This change would be reversed to the traditional "Stanmer House" following Proud's closure of the business.[ citation needed ]
In January 2020, Proud announced that Stanmer House would close to the public as the company entered liquidation, stating that a rent increase was to blame. However many customers had recently criticised the venue under his company's operation, stating that it was poorly run. [7] [8]
Shortly thereafter, Stanmer House was then bought by large local employer and property owner, KSD Support Services. The new leaseholder, owned by local businessmen Chris Gargan, Peter McDonnell and Mark Ratcliffe, reopened Stanmer House for Easter 2021, firstly as The House Cafe and eventually launching the self-titled Stanmer House in December 2022.
Planning permission to convert the house into a hotel is in place, but KSD is uncertain if it will proceed with this plan. [9]
Stanmer House is currently used as a dual-purpose building, with restaurant and cafe premises on the ground floor, and a number of local businesses occupying offices on the upper floors.
The head chef at Stanmer House as of December 2022 is the locally-renowned Russell Tisbury, the previous operator of the successful Tisbury's Kitchen group of kitchen franchises.
Stanmer House was the location of a Mr. Bean sketch from the first episode in which he runs a Reliant Robin three wheeler off the road on the park drive leading to the house, parks outside it and enters to take an examination in trigonometry but only finds the calculus paper in the envelope (for which he has done no revision) only to find that the trigonometry paper is indeed in the envelope. However, he finds out far too late and so is unable to write anything meaningful in the time remaining.
A later scene sees Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) falling asleep during a sermon at the nearby church (a few tens of metres away) with an indignant and shocked churchgoer, Richard Briars, sat in the pew next to him. Bean ends up dozing off on knees and then head at Briars' feet.
Brighton and Hove is a city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council, which is currently under Labour majority control.
Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer Stadium.
Brighton Pavilion is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Siân Berry of the Green Party.
Brighton and Hove City Council is a unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It was created as Brighton and Hove Borough Council on 1 April 1997 replacing Brighton and Hove Borough Councils. It was granted city status in 2001.
Stanmer Park is a large public park immediately to the west of the University of Sussex, and to the north-east of the city of Brighton in the county of East Sussex, England, UK. It is a Local Nature Reserve and English Heritage, under the National Heritage Act 1983, has registered the park on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England at Grade II level.
Coldean is a suburb of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Located in the northeast corner of the urban area, it was developed by Brighton Corporation in the 1950s as one of several postwar council estates necessitated by the acute housing shortage in the area after World War II.
Hollingdean is a district in the city of Brighton & Hove. The Ward is called Hollingdean and Stanmer with a population of 15,681 at the 2011 Census. Hollingdean is in effect the older part of Hollingbury. It is bounded by Ditchling Road to the west, the Round Hill area to the south, and Lewes Road and Moulsecoomb to the east. It is a mainly residential area, with many council houses to the east and low-rise flats in the central part, with late 19th and early 20th-century terraced houses towards Fiveways, and some railway land, light industry, and warehousing.
Stanmer is a village on the northern edge of the city of Brighton and Hove, in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. It was formerly a civil parish until 1952 when it was split between Brighton and Falmer. In 1951 the parish had a population of 1097.
Stanmer Church is a former Anglican church in Stanmer village, on the northeastern edge of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The ancient village stands within Stanmer Park, the former private estate of the Earl of Chichester, which the Brighton Corporation acquired for the benefit of Brighton's citizens after the Second World War. The church and a stately home, Stanmer House, stand outside the village but within the park's boundaries. The church, which was declared redundant in 2008, has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.
The Willkommen Collective is a Brighton, England-based community of musicians, promoters and artists. The collective includes the bands Sons of Noel and Adrian, the Leisure Society, the Climbers, the Miserable Rich, and Shoreline. They also run a record label, Willkommen Records, and put on monthly gigs in Brighton, England. The bands share many members and often work collectively.
There are 24 Grade I listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
Patcham Place is a mansion in the ancient village of Patcham, now part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1558 as part of the Patcham Place estate, it was owned for many years by Anthony Stapley, one of the signatories of King Charles I's death warrant. It was extended and almost completely rebuilt in 1764, with traces of the older buildings remaining behind the Classical façade with its expanses of black glazed mathematical tiles—a feature typical of Brighton buildings of the era. Contemporary uses have included a youth hostel, but the house is currently used as a commercial premises. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
Brighton and Hove, a city on the English Channel coast in southeast England, has a large and diverse stock of buildings "unrivalled architecturally" among the country's seaside resorts. The urban area, designated a city in 2000, is made up of the formerly separate towns of Brighton and Hove, nearby villages such as Portslade, Patcham and Rottingdean, and 20th-century estates such as Moulsecoomb and Mile Oak. The conurbation was first united in 1997 as a unitary authority and has a population of about 253,000. About half of the 20,430-acre (8,270 ha) geographical area is classed as built up.
Princes House is an office and residential building in the centre of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The prominently sited building, an example of Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel's "inimitable response to Modernism", was purpose-built as the headquarters of the Brighton & Sussex Building Society, forerunner of the Alliance & Leicester. The office was later used by Norwich Union, another financial institution, and now houses a restaurant and flats. The steel-framed structure is clad in red bricks with inlaid mosaicwork, forming a carefully detailed façade, and the corner elevation has an arrangement of brickwork and windows which suggests "the pleated folds of a curtain". The building is listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
As of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
As of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
Brighton and Hove, a city and unitary authority in the English county of East Sussex, has a wide range of public services funded by national government, East Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and other public-sector bodies. Revenue to fund these services comes partly from Council Tax, which is paid annually by residents: this tax provides the city council with nearly 20% of its income and also helps to fund the local police force, Sussex Police, and the county's fire service, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Some of Brighton and Hove's utilities and infrastructure are provided by outside parties, such as utility companies, rather than by the city council.
Breeze is a brand name given to a group of three tourist-oriented bus routes, numbered 77, 78 and 79, operated by the Brighton & Hove bus company. The routes operate under the slogan "breeze up to the Downs and beyond" and link the city of Brighton with three popular countryside destinations within the South Downs National Park – respectively Devil's Dyke, Stanmer Village and Ditchling Beacon.