Gatcombe House

Gatcombe House is a large country house built between 1780 and 1800, which later served as offices for the former Hilsea Barracks and subsequently as a student hostel. It is currently used as builders' offices. The building features yellow brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings and has three Welsh slated hipped roofs, with brick stacks positioned at the right of the central wing and the right wing. The T-shaped plan consists of 10 bays arranged in a 3:5:3 configuration over three storeys, with the central part of five bays projecting. The top two storeys of the north wing were added around 1985.

The entrance is approached by four stone steps leading to a recessed half-glazed 9-pane door, which is topped by a fanlight with patterned radial glazing set beneath a round brick arch. The doorway is flanked by stone engaged Roman Ionic columns, a broken entablature, and an open dentilled pediment. To the left and right of the entrance are single-storey 19th-century rectangular brick bays, each featuring two front sashes and one sash on each return, all set under flat gauged brick arches, with a brick dentil band and a stone coped parapet. The recessed wings on either side each have three 9-pane sashes. The first floor has eleven 12-pane sashes, while the second floor has eleven 6-pane sashes, with each sash set under a flat gauged brick arch and a stone sill, along with a brick dentil band and stone coped parapet. The rear elevation includes three and two-storey red brick extensions that were altered around 1985.