Latest News » REVISITING RICHMOND HISTORY AS AUCTION HOUSE SITE GETS 4TH INCARNATION
We are giving a prominent site in the centre of Richmond a new purpose for the fourth time in the last hundred years. Most recently an unused auction house, the Norman F Brown sale rooms at the rear of the well-known estate agent's building are now being developed into housing.
A 40-year-old polaroid shows the fuel pumps on the main road in the centre of Richmond.
Original plans show that the area housed stables in 1913. By the time Mr Brown bought the site in 1979 it was a petrol station, complete with fuel pumps in the main road at the front. Workshops at the rear were converted into the auction rooms and the garage itself was demolished in 1985 when the Norman F Brown offices were purpose-built. The last auction was held four years ago and that building has now also been demolished.
In its place, we are building three terraced, two-bedroomed cottages and two self-contained flats as well as an extension to the Norman F Brown offices. We expect to finish early in 2011.
Owner, Norman Brown explained the plans for the new development: "This area is so central and convenient that keeping the empty auctions rooms seemed a waste of a terrific location. There is plenty of demand for smaller rentals and so we hope to let the new homes to young local workers or older people who wish to move closer to the town centre," he said.
Our MD, Graeme Newton, is enjoying the challenges of the project: "You can see the varied history of this bit of Richmond on the site. During work in the seventies, builders apparently found oats in the walls from the days when this area was a stable and now we are working around the old garage infrastructure. These new homes are being built to last so it should be a long time before this area sees its next major changes," he said.