York Historic Environment Record

The building is a remnant of an older farm complex (c.1810).
It has high historical association attributes through connections with John Burton and the York Art Gallery, and a Lord Mayor of York. It was extended to accommodate a collection of paintings for John Burton (1799-1882), many of which were bequeathed to the City and now hang in the Art Gallery in Exhibition Square. A York horse dealer, farmer, mine owner, amateur artist and art collector, Burton’s bequest to the gallery in 1882 of 126 paintings laid the foundations for a permanent collection of art for York. (He had been on the organising committees for the 1866 and 1879 exhibitions in York and decided to leave his collection to the citizens of York rather than his first choice, the National Gallery; he was persuaded to change his will a month prior to his death). Sir Robert Newbold Kay, Lord Mayor of York 1924/25, was also associated with the building.
It later became home to the first preschool Play Group in York in 1964 giving it modest communal value.
Today, this imposing but attractive, three storey, red brick Victorian villa, with stone string courses, is incorporated as part of a wider commercial complex.

York Civic Trust