Dear Visitor,

THE EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING!

I would firstly like to thank you for taking the time to visit our website.

As you will see from these pages the name STREET HERITAGE is now bywords for quality, desirability, individuality and exclusivity. Indeed for the past 12 years I have been involved with some of the most unique and prestigious developments all around the Island. However, it is Peel where I was born and live and where our developments have won acclaim and where our future lies. For example, ‘The Grove’, a project we completed in 2000, is used by the Planning Department as a benchmark for anyone wishing to develop within a Conservation area on the Island and features in various Planning Documents.

With the nearing completion of the water retention scheme, where the harbour will be permanently flooded, it will create a wonderful environment which will ripple throughout Peel, the Sunset City. We will shortly be applying to construct a number of apartments with 150 foot frontage, reflecting the Quayside’s historic past and appearance, and if approved will greatly enhance the image of Old Peel and be a wonderful and leisurely place to live.

Increasingly I hear visitors and residents alike saying to me they believe that Peel offers more and more a unique way of life with a good mix of community, heritage, unspoilt character and culture. I firmly believe this and as STREET HERITAGE continues to add to its portfolio of sympathetically renovated historic property within Old Peel the ‘feel good factor’ will get stronger.

This unique way of life that Peel offers is built around its beaches, winding and intimate streets, a real sense of community where old fashioned values of knowing your neighbour foster an environment of relaxation and belongingness; exactly what existed years ago but now sadly lost in so many towns where the stress of life has become too great.

However Peel is not only inimitable it is also very central on the Island, 11 miles away from the Island’s capital Douglas with all the national shops and stores and is the principal sea port and Peel is just 20 minutes from the Island’s airport. So if you are looking for a totally unique and individual residence (our slogan is ‘Yesterday’s styles, Today’s standards’) in a town that offers true quality of life and unspoilt character within a historic and caring environment we, at STREET HERITAGE are the people to talk to without any pressure or obligation.

Enjoy your journey.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Irving
Founder & Managing Director

Street Heritage’s mantra is:

“Today’s standards with yesterday’s styles,
- Homes of individual character.”

This slogan sums up the ethos of the company. Street Heritage and the company’s owner, Jonathan Irving, specialises in taking tired and ‘run down’ buildings and bringing them back into ‘life’ to modern building regulations. It can be truly said that each property that Street Heritage completes is unique, individual and a ‘one off’.

Street Heritage mainly works within the Conservation Area of Old Peel sympathetically restoring or building properties of totally individual character. Having an automatic aversion to anything that resembles 20th or 21st century architecture Jonathan Irving derives a lot of satisfaction in trying to make everything look original and authentic as well as harmonising with its surroundings.

The Grove, by the Cathedral in Tynwald Road in Peel is a classic case in point. The following story best illustrates the culture and thinking of the company. It is a story of seven ‘Historical’ houses:

“On the plan of Peel in 1784 ‘The Grove’ was a field attached to a farmhouse situated on Atholl Street. An original hayloft still remains and was restored as part of the project. ‘The Grove’ is situated alongside the Cathedral and is within the Peel Conservation area.

In the 1920’s Inspector Faragher, whose daughter married William Irving, purchased the field. A large house was constructed as a pair of semis, the Faraghers living on one side and the Irvings on the other. William had three sons, Clifford, Frank and Jack. Jack, a fluent Manx speaker and Architect, continued to live at ‘The Grove’ until his death in 1998.

By the time Jack had passed the building was in a severe state of disrepair, with dry and damp rot, major infestations, and vegetation had taken hold on the inside as well as the outside. A survey was carried out detailing the extent of the problems and the conclusion was that the only practical option was demolition.

Jonathan Irving, a nephew of Jack, designed and supervised the development that exists today. The designs were taken from existing ‘character’ houses within the Conservation areas. Jonathan walked around taking photographs of houses that appealed to him and designed the internal layout around the external appearance. The concept was based on the principle, ‘yesterday’s styles, today’s standards’.

A detailed land survey was carried out and plotted all the mature trees. Unfortunately the majority of them were poor specimens due to the lack of thinning. An on site meeting with the Head Forester determined what was to be kept and how to protect them. Many consultations were held with the Planning and Conservation officers and detailed permission was duly received.

Construction commenced in May 2000 with the arrival of seven individual timber frame kits from Maples in Preston, chosen for their insulation qualities. Two of the houses were dressed with local Sandstone; quite a lot was saved from the garden walls that were already on site. Various roofs were cladded with reclaimed slates and the ‘substantial’ rain water goods, complete with some dated hoppers, differ from house to house. The pavements, kerbs and slabs are Marshalls ‘Conservation’ and some of the roadside gutters were formed in original granite cobble sets. Quite a few of the chimney pots were reclaimed from the ‘old’ Grove house and reused on the dummy stacks. Fire surrounds taken out of the ‘old’ house were reused in the new. On completion, in January 2001, the project was fully landscaped.

The finishing touch was the siting of the focal point in the square of the ‘Old’ Manx Cross. It is styled on the ancient Manx Crosses and is sculptured out of Kuru Caron stone, which was imported from Finland. Not only is it a central point of interest but it reminds visitors of the Christian roots of the Isle of Man and ‘The Grove’s’ position in relation to the Island’s Cathedral, St German’s.

Visitors to the Grove today think that it has been standing there for over a hundred years - and that is exactly what the intention behind this project was.

One of the purposes behind the existence of Street Heritage is to improve the environment and streetscape of Old Peel. Through this work of improvement and bringing life back into the centre hopefully adds to the enjoyment of both resident and visitor to the Sunset City.

If you would like to own your own piece of history please look out for our existing and up and coming projects