The fine Victorian villa at 10 Taptonville Road has been a part of Broomhill for 150 years.
It was built in 1870 for John Fanshaw Littlewood as a family home. Apprenticed as a cooper, Littlewood had prospered and become owner of the business.
The house was then bought in 1910 by Arthur S Lee, as a family home. Lee, eldest son of the founder of a major steel firm, made various changes to the house and in the 1920s commissioned eminent designer Percy Cane to lay out fashionable gardens.
After Lee's death, the house passed through other hands and, in the mid-1950s, was purchased by the City for £5,200, to turn into a public library for Broomhill and Crosspool.
The Broomhill Branch Library duly opened in September 1957. The house was remodelled internally but retained its external appearance and attractive formal gardens.
Threatened with closure and sale as a result of Council cuts, in 2014 the library became the Broomhill Community Library, with a team of volunteers managing its transition to a self-funded community library.
The charitable Broomhill Community Trust was formed in 2018 to preserve and improve the building and its heritage gardens.
