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Soho House

A glimpse of some of the contents of the house and garden following the two separate occupancies of reverends in the mid-1800s. Had several conservatories. Viv.
 

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Thank you Viv for those very interesting articles. I've not been on the forum lately so have just caught up! I know when my family had Soho, the two houses in Vicarage Road (Nos. 5 and 7) were accessed from the rear of the house. One was used as an annexe for hotel guests and the other was used for staff accommodation. My Dad sold Soho to the GEC in 1956.
Judy
 
got see this place in the end very nice to vist but very small as in the photos
but still was good to find out few things I didn't know about
handsworths history !


I used to play in all those rooms when I grew up at Soho in the 40s/50s when it was a hotel! My sister and I used to slide across the polished entrance hall floor (which was a lot different to the photo!) and there were stuffed stags heads on the walls! The door at the back of the entrance hall first photo led into a cloakroom/toilet. It does look very clean and smart, but doesn't look like my home anymore! I visited when they were doing the restoration and it was so interesting to see. Here's my Dad in the garden in the 50s, and another of me in pink top about to go inside when it was in the middle of renovations. Thought you might also like to see the lovely driveway to the front door, which has now long gone!
 

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I was taken aback by that entrance hall floor Judy. I thought even if this was a restored floor, could it really have been like that originally ? Viv.
 
I used to play in all those rooms when I grew up at Soho in the 40s/50s when it was a hotel! My sister and I used to slide across the polished entrance hall floor (which was a lot different to the photo!) and there were stuffed stags heads on the walls! The door at the back of the entrance hall first photo led into a cloakroom/toilet. It does look very clean and smart, but doesn't look like my home anymore! I visited when they were doing the restoration and it was so interesting to see. Here's my Dad in the garden in the 50s, and another of me in pink top about to go inside when it was in the middle of renovations. Thought you might also like to see the lovely driveway to the front door, which has now long gone!
didn't know it was a hotel the last photo u put up what year was that do u know?
thanks
 
didn't know it was a hotel the last photo u put up what year was that do u know?
thanks
It was already operating as a hotel when my grandparents bought it in the late 1920s Rosary Boy. Prior to that it had been a girls' school. Here's a price list from 1945! As to what year I was shown round by Val Loggie of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, I can't really remember but it would have been around 1990/1992ish.
Soho 1945-50001.jpg
 
I was taken aback by that entrance hall floor Judy. I thought even if this was a restored floor, could it really have been like that originally ? Viv.

It does seem a bit bright Viv! But it must have been thoroughly research by Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery I guess! When I lived there it was a dark lino or lino tiled floor. I remember my sister used to get into trouble for roller skating on it!
 
It was already operating as a hotel when my grandparents bought it in the late 1920s Rosary Boy. Prior to that it had been a girls' school. Here's a price list from 1945! As to what year I was shown round by Val Loggie of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, I can't really remember but it would have been around 1990/1992ish.
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thanks for the information Jayell
 
Interesting to see the photos again of my old home. Alex at Soho.jpgI can tell you that the top two photos in Viv's post #115 were taken in September 1927 when the house was a hotel run by Clifford Thomas. My grandparents had bought the house and were running it as a hotel by 1929, and later my parents took it over and it is where I grew up. The Birmingham Post article is also very interesting and I can tell you that my grandfather sold the two Shereton tables to Henry Ford - I have the letter from Henry Ford confirming the payment to him. Here is my Dad in the garden in the 50s which I might have posted before.
 
I should also have mentioned that the original Ionic pillars at the entrance door were sadly knocked down by a delivery van reversing into them during the First World War, and you can see the remains of them either side of the cherry tree at the front of the lawn.
 
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