SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

I drive past this marvellous old grade 2 listed property every day and have noted that the renovation work (I believe it is being converted to posh flats) has seemingly been ground to a halt for several months. The exterior of both the main house and gate house have been externally restored to an extent and re-roofed.There is a site portakabin which is sometimes lit up but apart from that no signs of activity whatsoever.Does anyone on here know what the situation is? This may be a good one for Phill and the Exploration Society team!        

Can you grab some external shots .. I can't say i know the place..    

Hi PhillIf this link works it should take you to the relevant Leodis image. The exterior of the building has been stripped of the foliage and sandblasted. The windows are boarded up but it appears the front door is not secured. I could be wrong.http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... _160384The building was the home of the Cliff family who were manufacturers of bricks and sanitary ware. The house was bequeathed to the city in 1929 and ended up as a kind of "bad boys" school. As a child growing up in Wortley it was known as the "boys home" and our parents threatened to send us there if we did anything naughty!Supposedly the interior has a magnificent winding staircase and mosaic floors under which a famous racehorse is said to be buried!The postcode (for Google Earth, multimap or SatNav )is LS12 4PF.Hope this is of interest.

Ok thanks for that. It looks good with all the ivy on.. I guess thats all been cleared off now.. I'll keep a look out if i pass that way.. Thanks     

My Grandma worked there, her and my Grandad and 3 sons (one of whom is obviously my Dad!) lived at Prospect House, which is just a bit further along that road.

Is that the large brick built house further on and to the left of Cliff House? If so it is also boarded up and going to ruin.Fawcett House used to stand further down the road just below Cliff House. It was a magnificent building sadly bulldozed a few years ago to make way for some new detached houses. Fortunately I got wind of what was going to happen and managed to capture the exterior of the building on my camcorder. Regrettably I did not possess Phill's nerve in order to get in and record the interior. I do regret that now!I was told there was an elderly tenant who had been the sole resident for many years just paying a peppercorn rent to the owners (the Wortley building firm, Robert R roberts). When the old man passed away the demolition men arrived, virtually while the poor old devil's bed was still warm!    

Yeah, probably, it was way before I was born, I'll ask my Dad next time I see him. From the photos I've seen, it looked like a lovely house, shame it's falling down now, I'd have thought it's be worth a few quid...

Looking at google earth it shows some lovely gardens to the rear. Lots of work going on from the look of things. Or am I not at the right spot?

Things moved very quickly when the renovation work started a couple of years ago. There has been nothing going on for about a year - I drive past it a couple of times during the day and there are never any vehicles, workmen or signs of activity.I suspect the property developer or whoever bought the house from Leeds City Council has simply run out of funds or gone out of business.

I know the large brick one went to auction because my sister put in a bid for it, probably about 2 years ago. Some developer got it i think, probably more flats!Cliffe house looks good now it's been sandblasted but it also looked great with the Ivy. There is also a gatehouse that has been cleaned up aswell.