Number 1 and Attached Railings and Garden Wall and Garden Porch

NUMBER 1 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS AND GARDEN WALL AND GARDEN PORCH

This house, built around 1815, was originally commissioned for the merchant Edwin Tarner and is now used as a hostel. It is constructed of painted brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with a slate roof.

The main façade, which faces the garden, has a four-window arrangement across three storeys plus a basement. The return elevation, accessible via Tilbury Place, has a three-window range. A verandah extends across the ground floor of the garden façade, featuring cast-iron railings and stanchions in an intricate net pattern; the concave metal roof is in poor condition with some sections missing. The verandah is accessed by two flat-arched, tripartite, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a single window positioned between them. The first and second-floor windows are also flat-arched, with projecting sills and lintels made of gauged brick. The windows at the ends are aligned and of the same size while those in between are slightly misaligned. The building is topped with a parapet featuring coping stones. Two flat-arched dormers, each containing a three-pane sash window from the original design, are set into the parapet, although the lower sashes are obscured.

A single-storey structure with a slate roof, containing kitchen facilities and a porch, is situated to the right of the main building. The rear wings are of 20th-century date and house service areas. A camber-arched porte-cochère leads from the main hallway to the garden, constructed of flint and featuring two dolphins carved in cement set into the north face, which were likely added when the property was bequeathed to Brighton Corporation in 1933 to become a charitable home for the severely ill.

The return elevation features a flat-arched entrance with decorative glazing bars above, and a six-panelled door with ornamental studding, sheltered by a porch supported on cast-iron colonnettes with barge boards and low side walls. The porch also extends to a basement entrance and area. The stairs to the entrances and area have cast-iron railings in a net pattern, and a camber-arched basement window is present. All upper-floor windows follow a similar flat-arch design, incorporating gauged brick lintels and projecting sills. Chimney stacks are located on the end walls.

The interior has been significantly altered, with the exception of the central staircase, which retains its dog-leg plan, curtail step, balusters, and wreathed handrail. The designation also includes a high flint garden wall with a brick lacing course and quoin strips, extending along Carlton Hill and returning along Tilbury Place. Of particular note is the rustic porch that projects from this wall into the southeast corner of the garden. This house forms a group with St John the Evangelist Church, on Carlton Hill, and numbers 2-5 (consecutive) Tilbury Place.