Peak House in Sidmouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, is a building designed by

Evelyn Hellicar Evelyn Hellicar (1862–1929) was an English architect. Biography He was educated at Cranbrook School, Kent. He was articled to Thomas Graham Jackson in 1883; that same year Jackson had added a new chancel to Bromley Parish Church. Hellicar stu ...

. It was finished in 1904 and is entirely made of

beer stone Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone underground complex located about a mile west of the village of Beer, Devon, and the main source in England for beer stone. The tunnels resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying beer stone, which was part ...

. It is a Grade II

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In 1793, London financier Emmanuel Baruh Lousada purchased 125 acres at Peak Hill and established Peak House estate. The house, built about 1796, commanded a fine view of the sea. Many of his wealthy relatives and friends came to visit and later made their own houses in the area. Sidmouth became an important site for the Anglo-Jewish community. Emmanuel Lousada died in 1832 and the estate passed to his nephew, also named Emmanuel. The property remained in the family until 1877 when it was sold to a John Hough of Middlesex. The original Peak House burned down in 1903. The current building was designed by Evelyn Hellicar for

Thomas Charles Dewey Sir Thomas Charles Dewey, 1st Baronet (31 August 1840 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire – 13 July 1926 at Peak House, Sidmouth) was President of the Prudential Assurance Company. In July 1907 Dewey celebrated his 50th year of service with the Prud ...

, President of the

Prudential Assurance Company Prudential plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual primary listings on the London Stock E ...

, and constructed just north of the ruins of the old house. The new house was completed in 1904 and retained many of its

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

features and furnishings. During World War I, Dewey loaned Peak House to the Red Cross for use as a 100 bed convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. It is now divided into four flats.

References

Grade II listed buildings in Devon Houses completed in 1904 Sidmouth {{Devon-struct-stub