20–22 Marlborough Place

Brighton developed into a fashionable resort in the 18th and 19th centuries, with Old Steine as one of its focal points. This was at the southern end of a large area of poorly drained, low-lying open space which later became known as Valley Gardens. The first residential development outside the four-street boundary of the ancient village was in 1771–72, when North Row was built on the west side of the open land. It was renamed Marlborough Place in 1819. One old building was incorporated into the street: a farmhouse which was refronted in the Georgian style and became the King and Queen pub. A local architect, he went into practice in 1909 and designed several buildings in the local area…

by Joseph Cribb above one of the ground-floor windows.]] Denman designed the building in a "well-mannered but individual Neo-Georgian style". On the left window, a hat-wearing John Leopold Denman is shown with a set of architectural plans, in discussion with another man. Other reliefs include a flat cap-wearing man laying bricks and a man sawing a piece of wood. They were carved by Joseph Cribb, a long-time collaborator with Denman who was working with him at the same time on the offices of the Brighton & Hove Herald newspaper at 2–3 Pavilion Buildings, a short distance away. The carvings are in good condition with "no overall risk" of deterioration.