Medical dates:

Medical character:

Leo Baeck House opened on 1st April 1958 in a property which had formerly been known as Bishop's Mead.  It was the second Home for elderly Jewish refugees, survivors of the Holocaust, to be opened by the Association of Jewish Refugees in 1958.  It had 43 beds (mainly in single rooms).

The Home was named after Rabbi Leo Baeck, the spiritual leader of German Jewry who had survived Theresienstadt concentration camp.

In the 1960s Osmond House was built in the grounds of the Home to accommodate 52 of the frailer residents.

Balint House was also built in the grounds in the early 1990s.  It opened on 21st April 1991 to provide additional accommodation for frail residents.  It had 27 beds.

However, by the turn of the century, the demand for residential care had declined.  A decision to close the three Houses was taken in 2009.

Present status (June 2019)

The site was sold was £30.5m.  The facade of Leo Baeck House was retained, but the rear extension demolished, as were Balint and Osmond Houses in the grounds.

Leo Baeck House has been converted into 3 apartments and renamed Bishopsmead House, its original title.  Two new 4-storey apartment blocks have been erected in the grounds.  The Coach House in the rear of the property has been extended and converted into 3 apartments.  The site is now known as Buxmead, a gated luxury apartment complex.