Preston Place

This elegant, Art & Craft style house stood in a large, triangular, tree-girt plot at the junction of Preston Park Avenue and Stanford Avenue. It was built for the Victorian philanthropist Sir John Howard who, in 1898, formed a new company to finish building the Palace Pier. This was  after it had been seriously damaged by the wreckage of the Chain Pier in the storm of 1896 and  the original company  was threatened with bankruptcy.

Sir John went on to build, in 1914, a convalescent home for gentlewomen at the west end of Roedean Road.  After his death in 1917 his trustees funded the building of the John Howard Cottages, Roedean Road in 1922, (now threatened with demolition), the Howard Wards at the Royal Sussex County in 1923, and a new wing at the New Sussex Hospital for Women in Windlesham Road in 1928.

The photo above was taken shortly before the house was demolished in August 2004. The site is now occupied by a block of flats "Preston Mansions".