Soho House

Soho House is the former mansion of the Soho Manufactory, one of the first factories in the world, in the district of Handsworth in the northeast of Birmingham.

Soho House was built as an extension of an existing dwelling house, as the entrepreneur Matthew Boulton, the land on which it stood, leased and one of the first factories in the world built there. Boulton's mother and wife, and later his partner John Fothergill lived in the house during construction to the factory ( 1761-1765 ); Boulton and his wife moved into the building after the completion of the factory in 1766. Since Boulton factory was very successful and attracted many visitors left Boulton replace the original building from 1789 by the architect Samuel Wyatt by the still existing today representational. It also has a steam heating system was installed, the heat got out of openings in the stair treads, as well as the world's first steam-powered hot water system for bathing rooms and the kitchen. Both were constructions Boulton and his friend James Watt.

Between 1766 and 1809 the house was a frequent meeting place of the Lunar Society, whose co-founder was Boulton and acted as an important think tank of the early Industrial Revolution in England.

While most of his Soho Manufactory was demolished in 1848-1863 the house remained and was used in many different ways, most recently as a police barracks. Since 1995, Soho House is a branch office for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery; a permanent exhibit honors the life and work of Matthew Boulton. In addition, it is used for exhibitions about local issues. Soho House is now a protected monument.