Visiting Fairfax House in York

The townhouse located at No. 27, Castlegate in York was likely constructed in the early 1740s for a local merchant.

Charles Gregory Fairfax, 9th Viscount Fairfax of Emley, acquired the property in 1759 using an inheritance from his wife, Elizabeth Clifford, with the intention of making it a home for his daughter, Ann Fairfax.

In 1761, Viscount Fairfax commissioned Yorkshire architect John Carr to remodel the interior of the townhouse. The project, which introduced fine mid-18th-century plasterwork and carved woodwork, was completed in 1765.

Following the earlier repurposing of the house as a dance hall, the adjacent St George's Cinema was opened in 1921, which resulted in an expansion of the building footprint.

After acquiring the dilapidated building in 1970, the York Civic Trust undertook a major restoration between 1982 and 1984, led by architect Francis Johnson. This effort restored the house to its 18th-century grandeur and converted the former cinema entrance into the main museum entrance.

Upon his death in 1980, Noel Terry of the Terry's chocolate business bequeathed his collection of Georgian furniture and clocks to the York Civic Trust. These pieces were subsequently installed in the period rooms of the house.

The museum's collection was expanded in the summer of 2017 with the acquisition of a previously lost wooden panel carved by Grinling Gibbons, created during his time learning his trade in York.