1966 - 2004
1966 - 2004
In 1966 when the house was returned totally to the West Bromwich Corporation, a meeting of the council were suggesting that the House was unsuitable for community use. Room sizes were not suitable. It was suggested to be used an education type facility. A report was recommended for which no record is shown in Public papers.
Mr Podmore had concluded his history of Red House with the words:-"as long as it stands, the Red house will be a monument to the iron age of plutocracy at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, when hundreds of families in the Black Country, hitherto poor, found 'gold' in coal and iron and built palatial residences like the Red House and kept large staffs of servants etc, while the working classes employed by them toiled long hours in distressing surroundings living in dwelling places not worthy of the name of home."
Let us be thankful we have progressed somewhat since then!
The 'Red House' was leased to the BTCV conservation group who took on some of the renovation of this fine old building before they moved on.
From 2004 The Friends of Red House Park have worked hard with Sandwell council to maintain and develop facilities in the park.
In 2015, after many years of neglect and many proposals for community use of the building, the council agreed to sell the house and some adjoining land to develop the house as flats and build a terrace on new houses.
