Home furnishings like you’ve never seen
Now regarded as one of the country’s finest Georgian townhouses, Fairfax House was once in such a state that York was on the verge of pulling it down. Restored to its original splendour in 1984, the building welcomes many visitors each year – but few realise that it stands as a monument to love and heartbreak.
Delve into Yorkshire history and you’ll encounter many a Fairfax. These include Robert Fairfax, a medieval composer who wrote a song about the death of Richard III in 1485, and Black Tom Fairfax, a general who led his armies to famous victories in the Civil War.
Info
Address Castlegate, York YO1 9RN, +44 (0)1904 655543, www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk, info@fairfaxhouse.co.uk | Public Transport 2-minute walk from Castle car park, next to Clifford’s Tower. Closest bus stop: Clifford Street | Hours Tue–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 11am–4pm; Mon: guided tours at 11am and 2pm| Tip The York Georgian Society stages a series of lectures about this era of the city’s history and all are welcome: www.yorkgeorgiansociety.org.
But it is Charles Gregory, 9th Viscount Fairfax of Emley, who gave his name to Fairfax House. He was a man beset by tragedy: his first wife died of smallpox; and although his second wife bore him nine children, only one, Anne, was destined to live into adulthood. As an old man he moved to York and set about creating Fairfax House for Anne, to bring some belated happiness into the life of his sole surviving child. The building predates Viscount Fairfax but it was he who brought in the celebrated architect John Carr to transform the interior.
Much later, the building provided a home for St George’s Hall, a cinema and dance hall, from 1919 to the 1960s. At one point the grand staircase collapsed, but undeterred, the owners propped it up by installing a cigarette kiosk underneath it.
By the 1980s, Fairfax House was a crumbling wreck. No one was sure what to do with it until the trustees of the Noel Terry estate stepped in. Terry, the boss of the confectionery business, had amassed one of the finest private collections of 18th-century furniture in the country, and his estate offered it to York Civic Trust.
York Civic Trust bought Fairfax House and undertook a painstaking restoration. And now you can see Noel Terry’s wonderful furniture, paintings, and clocks in the peerless elegance of Charles Gregory’s townhouse.
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