By the 1850s the most desirable seafront plots in Lytham had been built upon so the Clifton Estate levelled an area of dunes to the west, constructed hulking to protect it from the sea and leased the site as building plots for "Marine Villas".

The first house to be built on this new site was a large mansion called "Fairlawn" which was owned by James Eden. He was a friend of Richard Ansdell R.A. who stayed several times at Fairlawn.