An elegant conservation area of white Regency villas and crescents on the slopes above the centre, one of the best-preserved in the city. BN1.
Montpelier and Clifton Hill form one of Brighton's most elegant and best-preserved conservation areas, a quiet enclave of white-stuccoed Regency and early Victorian villas on the slopes between Seven Dials, the city centre and the station. The streets of Montpelier Road, Montpelier Crescent, Powis Square and Clifton Terrace are among the finest surviving examples of the city's nineteenth-century architecture.
The area is almost entirely residential and strongly protected from development, giving it a hushed, genteel character very different from the Laines just downhill. Montpelier Crescent, a sweeping composition of bow-fronted houses facing a private garden, is one of the architectural set pieces of Brighton. The handful of shops and pubs on its edges serve a settled community of professionals and long-term residents.