A decision will soon be made on whether or not a new lease should be granted to protect the former Bath home of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Pauline Swaby Wallace, Princess Esther Sellassie Antohin, Prof. Shawn Naphtali Sobers & Cllr Kevin Guy | Photo © B&NES Council
A council report sets out the proposed lease for Grade II-listed Fairfield House to a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, Fairfield House Bath CIC.
The company was founded to protect and celebrate the legacy to Bath of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie.
The house, owned by Bath & North East Somerset Council, is used as a lively community hub, day care centre for the elderly and is a heritage attraction for visitors worldwide.
A single-member decision report before Councillors Paul Roper, cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, and Alison Born, cabinet member for adult services, seeks approval for the granting of a new lease.
If approved, the new lease would allow the CIC time to prepare a business plan and secure funding and resources for a Community Asset Transfer for the properties and land, which would be considered in accordance with democratic processes.
The granting of a new lease would also allow for the transfer of ongoing occupational costs such as utilities and rates, council tax, repairs and insurance from the council gradually, with the aim of Fairfield House CIC assuming full responsibility by the end of the lease.
Councillor Roper said: “We will consider the proposal to grant the lease carefully. Doing so would enable a much-loved local facility to be retained for the community in the short term and allow the tenant to further promote and invest in the building including measures to improve its energy efficiency.”
The Fairfield House site comprises two buildings: an ‘Italianate’ 19th century, Grade II listed villa at 2 Kelston Road and a post-war residential detached bungalow at 27 Burleigh Gardens.
From 1936 to 1941 the villa was the residence of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, who gifted the property to Bath Corporation (a forerunner of Bath & North East Somerset Council) in 1959 as a home for the aged in gratitude for the warm welcome he received from the citizens of Bath. The bungalow was built to provide caretaker accommodation.
Fairfield House was used as a residential care home until 1993, when new room size requirements made it unsuitable for future use.
From then it has been used as a day centre by a number of groups including, since 1993, by the charity Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens’ Association (BEMSCA).
