Fairfax House is a grade I listed building, now principally used as a museum that portrays the lifestyle of Georgian high society, with a specific focus on how they lived and entertained in their houses. The museum is operated by York Civic Trust, who also use part of the second floor for their main offices. The museum attracts around 22,000 visitors a year, it is an important part of the cultural offer York provides its inhabitants and visitors, but it is not profitmaking and demands a lot of York Civic Trusts resources.

In July 2019 concerns were raised about the condition of the faience surround to the main museum entrance of Fairfax House. Following an inspection by Pinnacle Conservation Ltd, it became clear there was a need to undertake urgent repairs to the faience façade in the form of some temporary works to make the area safe and to keep the museum operational until the repair works could be carried out. The damaged faience, located above the current entrance to the museum, is part of the building that was formed when Fairfax House was converted into a cinema in 1919.

Pinnacle Conservation Ltd were further employed to carry out the permanent works to fully repair the façade which included:

• The templating, manufacture and supply of new faience units.
• The cleaning and treatment of the underlying corroding steel structure.
• The installation of the new faience units, including the full pointing and repair of adjacent units.
• The installation of protective lead flashings to the sky surfaces of selected projecting details.