Restoration
The restoration
The physical restoration of Staircase House has been a huge project spanning the last ten years, but there has been significant historical interest in the house for far longer. Staircase House was the focus of detailed archaeological investigation by The University of Manchester in the 1970’s and again in the 1990’s, and has always been considered a site of great value and interest within the north west .
Staircase House was recognised as a local treasure by ‘The Stockport Heritage Trust’ who were established in 1988 with the purpose of saving the house and raising awareness. Without their efforts Staircase House would probably not be standing today. As awareness of the importance of Staircase House to Stockport ’s history grew, so did interest to support its restoration.
Following an almost devastating fire in 1995 the opportunity came to restore the house with the offer of financial assistance from English Heritage. This was followed by substantial grants from Heritage Lottery Funding, SRB funding, ERDF and Stockport Capital Funding to the sum of over £3m, and for which the team at Staircase House and the wider community give great thanks.
Frank Galvin, Stockport Council’s Curatorial Project Manager commented that,"before work started on the house it was in a very poor state of repair, with leaking roofs, fire damage and general structural instability. The restoration of the house was a huge project but well worth every step, as you will see when you visit".
Works on the house were complete by the beginning of 2004, ready for furniture and decoration to begin. Staircase House opened its doors to the public on 24 August 2005 with the help of TV’s antiques expert David Dickenson.
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