The Pagoda House

The Pagoda House is a house built in 1848 for Richard Andrews, a five-time Mayor of Southampton, constructed in a Chinese style. The original L-shaped plan was filled in during the late 19th century. The upper floors are faced with fishscale tiles, while the ground floor features flintwork with red brick dressings. The roof is hipped and slate-covered, with one brick stack and one red brick chimneystack. The house has three storeys and five windows, including a three-light canted bay window extending through the two upper floors, all with chinoiserie glazing incorporating coloured panes. It has a wide double bracket eaves cornice, possibly featuring unique wooden fretwork corner brackets. The second floor has casement windows, and the first floor has similar French windows, along with a renewed glazed verandah, replacing an original tent-shaped structure, supported by wooden posts and renewed trelliswork. The balcony is supported by cast iron pillars and wide iron brackets. The ground floor has three round-headed windows and a late 19th-century projecting porch with a cambered-headed doorcase.

Inside, a notable staircase features scrolled tread ends, a mahogany handrail, cylindrical balusters with three spherical projections, and a ceiling rose with stylized floral cornices. The lounge contains a wooden mantelpiece with swags, paterae, and ovolo moulding, along with a mirror with a palm leaf design and lion masks. A marble fireplace is present in an ante room. A rear door has coloured glass marginal panes and painted scenes of peasant life. The house was formerly a venue for entertaining distinguished guests, including the European liberal politicians Kossuth, Czartoristi, and Garibaldi – Kossuth is depicted in a print from the Illustrated London News, displayed in the lounge. Contemporary engravings indicate the house originally had more Chinese-style chimneys, finals on the roof, and possibly dragon finials on the balcony, along with a fretted balcony.