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Broomhill Online
A community website for Broomhill (Sheffield) |
 Pisgah House is a Grade II listed residence constructed in the 1820's, tucked away in a quiet backwater (Pisgah House Road) at the top end of Hoole Rd. It is next door to the Etruria House Hotel,which is also a listed building. Pisgah House has a fine 2-story coach house (pictured below), which is itself a listed building. It is the oldest listed residential building in Broomhill, and the most important building in the North-East quadrant of the Conservation Area. The house has been owned by the University since the 1970's but it is now surplus estate, and the Uni plan to dispose of it during 2010. Why does it need to be saved?  The
rear garden of Pisgah House is part of the Botanic Garden on
the Tapton Experimental Gardens site. It houses a significant portion
of the plant collection. When the Tapton site is redeveloped, whatever
public open space remains on the site will adjoin Pisgah House's garden. To
see clearly how these elements fit together, you can download a diagram
of the entire site here.Options for a community acquisition of the garden of Pisgah House are currently being explored. One option is a cooperative purchase of the house; if you are interested in joining our Pisgah Partners Group and being part of this exciting project please email BANG. Is this a real investment? Or a donation? This is an investment opportunity, NOT a donation. Though the main reason to buy Pisgah House is to conserve the gardens, the house itself and the coach house could have a wide range of uses that would provide a return on investment. Alternatively, the Partners could retain ownership of the major part of the garden and re-sell Pisgah House for family occupation. The garden could then be leased to the Broomhill Gardens Trust, who would cover the costs of maintenance. Either way, the Pisgah Partners Project would need to ensure that the costs of maintaining and running the estate are met in full, with returns on investment to shareholders.  We see Pisgah House as a focal point for the Common Ground initiative that BANG has set in motion. There are many sources of grant and loan funding available for this kind of project. For example, the Architectural Heritage Fund provides loans for the acquisition and refurbishment of historic buildings. The Townscape Heritage Initiative provides grants to regenerate buildings and to improve conservation areas at risk. Groundworks Community Spaces provides grants for improvements to public open spaces. And this project would also be eligible to receive 'Section 106' planning gain funding arising from local development schemes. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH IF YOU CAN HELP IN ANY WAY WITH THIS PROJECT! The background to our secret garden campaign (top) |