A Regency Coffee Morning at Steine House

YMCA Brighton is hosting a Regency coffee morning at Steine House on Friday 20 November, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. It's a fundraiser run with the Brighton & Hove Soirée Rotary Club, which has spent 46 years supporting local charities and community groups across the city. There'll be cakes and refreshments, and the morning centres on a talk by Father Patrick Fludder of Monks in the City, with Zac Pinsent — Pinsent Tailoring's Regency gentleman — also on the bill and a surprise guest appearing on the day.

Steine House itself is a good part of the draw. It stands on the west side of Old Steine and was built in 1804 by William Porden, architect to the Prince of Wales, for Maria Fitzherbert. She'd secretly married the Prince — later George IV — in 1785, a union that was invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772. She lived there until her death in 1837, and the house is rarely open to the public. Its original Egyptian-style colonnade was blown down by a storm in 1805, and the front was rebuilt in the Italianate style. The YMCA bought the building in 1884, it was refaced and extended in 1927, and it was listed Grade II in 1952. Porden's cast-iron stair is the only remnant of his original scheme. Today it houses YMCA Brighton's head office and a supported housing project.

So, on the morning, you'll get to step inside a building that's usually closed to the public, with cakes, refreshments, and a talk by Father Patrick Fludder, Zac Pinsent, and a surprise guest. It's £12 per person, and it runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Friday 20 November at Steine House, 55 Old Steine, BN1 1NX.