Somerset House

Town house and two warehouses, subsequently a bank, now commercial, local authority, and residential premises. The building was constructed in 1766, with warehouses added around 1780, extensions built circa 1820, and late 19th and early 20th century alterations including demolition of the eastern warehouse. The interior was substantially remodelled between 1954 and 1956, including removal of the grand staircase, and underwent early 21st century restoration. The house is attributed to John Carr of York and was built for John Royds, a local woollen merchant. The plasterwork in the grand salon was executed by Guiseppe Cortese.

The building is constructed of coursed Elland Flags sandstone with dressed quoins and window surrounds, with a stone flag roof partly replaced by slate.

The original house comprises a recessed central section flanked by projecting two-bay pavilion wings. The original main entrance was a central full-width open porch to the George Street elevation, while the original rear elevation facing Rawson Street features a central open arcaded loggia overlooking the house gardens. Two three-storey warehouses built around 1780 flanked the pavilion wings; the eastern warehouse has since been demolished. To the west on the rear (south) side is a circa 1820 extension with a projecting outer wing and a range fronting a small enclosed yard, originally accessed by coach entry from George Street through a passageway inserted in the rearranged ground floor of the western warehouse. The mirrored arrangement on the east side is now demolished. The eastern pavilion wing to the Rawson Street elevation has been extended outwards, affecting the symmetry of the original arrangement. The original entrance hall with grand staircase was located in the central section on the George Street side (the staircase was removed in 1954–1956). The grand salon is located on the south side of the first floor, where it originally overlooked the garden. A staircase in the north-east corner of the central section is a modern insertion.

The present main façade is on Rawson Street, though this originated as the rear, garden elevation and is set back from the late 19th-century street-line. The original façade is now at the right-hand end of the building. It comprises a central two-storeyed section with a five-bay arcaded loggia of Doric columns, three first-floor bays with nine-over-six pane sash windows, and a modillion cornice with a balustraded parapet incorporating a central festooned panel topped by an urn. To either side is a projecting wing of two bays and three storeys. The left-hand wing retains its original form, projecting slightly with quoining, a modillion pediment and blind parapet topped by three urns. The windows reduce in height with nine-over-six panes on the ground floor, six-over-six on the first floor and three-over-three on the second floor. The right-hand wing has been extended forward to street level, though quoining on the inner face shows that this wing originally mirrored that to the left. The upper floors are modelled on the left-hand wing, but there is an early 20th-century shop front on the ground floor with an Ionic corner column. The building to the right of this wing has been demolished.

To the left of the left-hand wing is the three-storey circa 1820 extension, also built of coursed Elland Flags sandstone with dressed quoining and window surrounds, and a partially balustraded parapet. It comprises an outer, projecting two-bay wing with urns to the corners, and a slightly recessed three-bay section abutting the original wing. The later wing is largely obscured behind the right-hand end of a 1926 building, though the second-floor windows are visible. The recessed section has a central doorway with a pedimented door surround with engaged Doric columns. To the left is a modern inserted doorway, and to the right is a former window altered to become a doorway with a small inserted window abutting the left jamb. Above, on the first and second floors, are windows similar to those in the original wing.

The George Street elevation is entirely of three storeys. The original façade is now at the left-hand end of the building. It comprises a recessed five-storey central section with a five-bay colonnade partially rebuilt in the 1950s with Ionic columns set on a low wall and supporting an entablature and blind balustraded parapet. Between the columns are modern windows, with a doorway at the right-hand end. Above, the original windows remain, with six-over-six pane sashes on the first floor and three-over-three panes on the second floor, separated by a band course, with a modillion eaves cornice. To the left is a two-bay pavilion wing, now rendered, though quoining to the inner right corner is visible. It has a modern shop front on the ground floor, with original fenestration on the upper floors, though the sashes have been replaced with later window frames. To the right is an eight-bay range with shops on the ground floor. The upper levels of the four left bays retain their original appearance, with quoining to the left corner, six-over-six pane sashes on the first floor and three-over-three pane sashes on the second floor, with an eaves entablature band. The stonework courses through, but there is a wider expanse of wall between the two inner windows with two sets of metal tie rods, suggesting that a similar two-bay pavilion to the right was subsequently extended. The four right-hand bays have been refaced in ashlar stone and remodelled, probably in the late 19th century. The upper floors have irregularly spaced two-over-two pane horned sash windows with a parapet.

The interior of Somerset House has been greatly altered from its original layout due to various subsequent commercial uses, and little remains of original fixtures and fittings. The ground floor of the original house is now a restaurant, with the right-hand eastern bay partitioned off and a modern staircase inserted in the north-east corner. In the ground-floor corridor leading to the staircase is an original 18th-century white-painted wooden chimney-piece intricately carved with a central panel depicting a bear stealing honey from beehives and being stung by bees. On the south side of the first floor, the grand salon survives. It features high-quality rococo plasterwork by Guiseppe Cortese, including scenes from Aesop's Fables, oval mirrors with foliate frames, a door surround with fluted Corinthian columns, enriched entablature and pediment supporting two putti, an enriched chimney-piece over which is depicted Britannia (dated 1766), medallions with relief busts, a modillion cornice, and coved ceiling with a depiction of Neptune and naiads. The adjacent room, which is in the west wing, has a dentil cornice and simple shouldered chimney-piece. Behind this room, in the centre of the west wing, is an original open-well staircase with dado-panelling to the wall and a ramped handrail, which has been boxed-in.