New details have been revealed for a housing project and butterfly garden at a historic city site.
Developers have confirmed works will begin to convert Eaton Grange, in Upton Road in the Golden Triangle, into 23 homes in the second quarter of 2024.
The application from LNA Eaton Ltd received unanimous approval from Norwich City Council in 2022 but works have only been cleared to start this year following the completion of a Section 106 funding agreement worth more than £69,000 to meet nutrient neutrality demands.
The scheme will see the main building turned into seven flats and the coach house become a single home - while a mix of 15 houses and flats will be added across the site.
Demolition works will also see a large two-storey 1950s flat roof structure at the rear of the main house removed.
A communal garden with flowering and fruiting species attractive to butterflies will be at the heart of the project.
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The garden will commemorate Margaret Fountaine, fondly known to some as the 'Norwich butterfly lady', an accomplished natural history illustrator, diarist and adventurer who once lived in the building.
Born in South Acre, near Swaffham, her family moved to Eaton Grange in 1877, before she began travels around the world, which would lead to a collection of 22,000 butterfly specimens, now housed at Norwich Castle Museum.
The main building was most recently used as a children's centre, which closed in 2017, having been identified as surplus NHS land following a review.
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Despite protests, its services were moved to the Norwich Community Hospital in Bowthorpe Road.
It had previously been used as a girls' boarding school.
Fears over the project had been raised by neighbours, with particular concerns including properties being too high, outdoor space too limited and the proposal looking out of character with surrounding properties.
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