We lived just up the hill from it 87-93. It was a bit run down then but still had a few famous residents. A couple of TV actors/actresses & Keith Waterhouse the novelist & newspaper columnist. I never went up but the views from the top must’ve been great.
I lived up the hill from it in 2002/2003 and it was very run down.
There were still some long term residents there but the main entrance was boarded up and parts of the building were empty and parts were being used to house asylum seekers.
A friends ex girl friend had an opportunity to buy a 2 bedroom flat with a basement parking place for £80K but there were major issues around who owned the freehold and the future of the building.
As it would have been all the money she had as her share of a legacy from her grandmother she didn’t take the risk.
Local rumour at the time was that Hoogstraten was connected some how, so people were very wary
I remember an old guy telling me that when he knew it in the 60s it was very swish with uniformed commissionaires manning the entrance
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If a magnificence isn’t the plural of cantilever it bloody well should be. Stunning building.
Either here or the Train thread? 
I find the conservation date a strange one. You don’t want to lose important bits of history, but at the same time if you don’t get rid of some of it it leaves very little scope for the current periods to have their own identity.
I do recall reading a fascinating little piece from Stephen Fry on how Paris’s desire to conserve ALL THE THINGS meant (for him at least) it lacked some of the variation and character that he liked about London which has much more variety.
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I agree, you need to conserve the good examples, not everything. Stagnation otherwise, but that’s what a lot of people want.
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Cool!
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This has a certain functional aesthetic.
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Just stunning! 
I think that small solitary window annoys me more than the porch and door…
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Unbelievable 
Should have put the chimney on the right for maximum unbalanced effect 
Loving the stone / brick thing. The icing the turd.