George, Prince of Wales has gone ahead with the purchase of Marine Pavilion from the trustees of Louis Weltje for the sum of £17,000.
Louis Weltje only paid £5,850 for the original property and grounds (Thomas Kemp's farmhouse) in 1787 and has charged the Prince an annual rent of £1,000 since. However, the Prince of Wales has had a lot done to the original property. Architect Henry Holland undertook the original work in creating the Marine Pavilion in 1787. The onion shaped cupolas were added by architect, P.F. Robinson, in 1804.
House prices in Brighton have increased a lot during this period of expansion. Also, Lord Nelson's victories over Napoleon in Egypt at the battle of the Nile in 1798 and over the French / Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 have kept our trade routes with India open and given Britain new confidence. However, Napoleon has not been finally defeated yet!