Campanile

From Historical Hastings
Campanile
General information
Address11 Edward Road
Postal CodeTN37 6ES
Admin. Information
Electoral/Planning WardCENTRAL ST LEONARDS Pre May 2018
Prop. Ref. No.100060044264

This house - the name Campanile being a style of Italianate Bell Tower - was built by the Franco-Swiss restauranteur Charles Verrey in Edward Road. An article in the Hastings Observer quoting the London Sketch referred to it as a veritable Italian palace in miniature.

"The portico is made up with Doulton columns and pilasters in the Moorish style, and the hall is paved and lined with coloured marbles, with columns and pilasters of the same material. The ceilings are painted, evidently by an artist of the front rank, the copy of Guido Reni's "Aurora" filling up a space between the friezes on each side of the entrance. The staircase is of white marble, with bronze balustrade and ebony handrail. A large stained glass window at the side; is a fine example of the scenic Swiss style, and probably cost about as much as whole house in the neighbourhood could be bought for to-day. The elaborate mouldings, the panelled walls of every floor delicately painted and gilded, as fresh to-day as when originally done, probably sixty years ago, was the work Italian artists brought over by Verrey, and occupied them more than eighteen months. The suite of rooms on the ground floor are palatial, with painted ceilings and cornices, the panels in the drawing-room being filled in with Aubusson tapestry; the curtains and several the chairs are also of Aubusson. The library is lined from floor to ceiling with oak, and the ceiling itself is in panels of the same wood, all elaborately carved, with Gothic arches and tracery and canopies. perfect facsimile Pompeian room, with a coved ceiling painted with scenes from Homer, a circular tower giving fine views of the Channel, and a lofty tiled bathroom with one wall painted with a scene on the Lago Maggiore, are among the many interesting features of this marvellous and unique habitation, which suggests a villa at Fiesole rather than Sussex"[1].

The property underwent extensive restoration work during the 1990s[2].

Images


References & Notes

  1. British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 23 November 1929 Pg. 0003
  2. Hastings Borough Council Planning application ref HS/LB/92/00628