Barford Court, Hove
| Barford Court | |
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The building from the southeast
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| Location | 157 Kingsway, Hove, Brighton and Hove BN3 4GR |
| Coordinates | 50°49′35″N 0°10′58″W / 50.8264°N 0.1827°WCoordinates: 50°49′35″N 0°10′58″W / 50.8264°N 0.1827°W |
| Built | 1934–1937 |
| Built for | Ian Stuart Millar |
| Restored | 1996 |
| Restored by | Peter Currie Architects |
| Architect | Robert Cromie |
| Architectural style(s) |
Neo-Georgian (exterior); Art Deco (interior) |
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Listed Building – Grade II
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| Official name: No. 157 Kingsway (formerly School of Nursing) | |
| Designated | 14 October 1986 |
| Reference no. | 1298639 |
 Location within Brighton and Hove
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Barford Court is a care home operated by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and situated on the seafront in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The building, completed in 1937, has had this function only since 1996; it was constructed by renowned cinema architect Robert Cromie as a private house for Ian Stuart Millar, an eccentric iron industry tycoon, who occupied it for only nine years. The large building later accommodated the Brighton and Hove School of Nursing, which for the first time brought together training provision for all local hospitals' staff on one site. When the school moved away in 1989, the house spent several years on the market awaiting a buyer—and in steadily deteriorating structural condition—before being refurbished, extended, renamed and converted to its present use.
The building is distinctive and idiosyncratic in its layout, positioning, materials and architectural style. Many interior touches are reminiscent of interwar Art Deco cinema architecture, contrasting with the "austere" Neo-Georgian exterior. Handmade, specially commissioned bricks in an unusual purplish grey colour were used to build the house, which is surrounded by a high wall of the same material. The layout was designed to accommodate the motor-car at a time when they were uncommon, with garaging space integrated into the design of the ground floor. Several design motifs recur throughout, and high-quality internal fittings such as built-in furniture and an unusual staircase have been preserved. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance. The surrounding wall is also listed separately at Grade II.
Hove originated as an agricultural hamlet on the English Channel coast west of the more important settlement of Brighton. It was surrounded by farmland used for grazing sheep. In response to Brighton's rapid 18th- and 19th-century growth into one of England's largest and most popular seaside resorts, Hove (whose population in 1825 was only 300, compared to more than 25,000 in Brighton) developed into a genteel, characterful residential town with spacious streets of large houses. The streets around Pembroke Crescent and Prince's Crescent, just north of the seafront, were typical examples: developed in the 1890s by prolific local architects Lainson & Sons and Clayton & Black in the Domestic Revival/Queen Anne style.
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