Orleans House The Octagon Room And Service Wing Adjoining

Orleans House, specifically the Octagon Room and its adjoining service wing, is a Grade I listed building. It is all that remains of Orleans House, which was originally built in 1710 for James Johnston, who served as Queen Anne's Secretary of State for Scotland. The house was home to Louis Philippe from 1800 to 1814 and again from 1815 to 1817. In 1720, Johnston commissioned architect James Gibbs to add the Octagon Room for entertaining Queen Caroline, the wife of George II.

The structure is made of red brick with stone dressings and features rubbed brick pilasters at the corners. It has large round-arched windows with blocked surrounds and round windows above them. The interior showcases a fine Roman baroque style, with plaster figures on the pediments of the fireplace and doors, as well as busts in round niches above, created by artists G. Artan and J. Bagutti. The Octagon Room is illustrated in Gibbs' 'Book of Architecture', plate 71. The service wing is a long two-storey brick range that adjoins the Octagon to the west, featuring a door with a pediment and a rusticated surround. Additionally, there is a rebuilt two-storey wing to the north.