Doric House And Attached Wall

DORIC HOUSE AND ATTACHED WALL

A house and picture gallery on sloping ground, built in 1803. The gallery was designed by Joseph Michael Gandy ARA (exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803) for developer Charles Spackman, as a commission for his friend and protégé Thomas Barker (1769–1847), a successful Bath painter.

EXTERIOR

The building is constructed in limestone ashlar with some red sandstone, with a slate roof and rear stack. It follows a tapering L-plan, presenting two storeys and basement to a four-window range on Cavendish Road.

The main temple-like body comprises a substantial plinth forming a level platform. Four detached columns with concave Doric capitals and large abaci stand between engaged antae, fronting a windowless wall with platband. These support a deep entablature and mutule cornice. The first floor (attic storey) is articulated by a similar but smaller arcade with three three/six-pane sash windows to the central bays; the entablature has a simpler cornice. The blocking course carries hollow acroteria above the columns, shaped like the half-hull of a boat. Entablatures are returned to the left; the attic entablature supports a pediment with similar acroteria.

Friezes and antae form recessed panels to first and ground floors. The first-floor panel contains a six/six-pane sash window with sun-blind box to the centre, flanked by paired pilasters. Below, the ground floor has a tripartite window with pilasters and cornice, opening onto a platform terrace formed by the plinth.

To the right is a single-storey forward wing, semicircular at its south end and encircled by an entablature and blocking course level with the mutule cornice of the main block. A bay at right angles to the main block steps slightly forward, with a sun-blind box to French windows opening onto a balustraded terrace; a pilaster stands to the right. The southern curve contains a sash window with sun-blind box in a raised surround with cornice. A small late 19th-century conservatory sits on the terrace.

Attached to the plinth is an ashlar garden wall sweeping down to the left of a gate at the north end, extending approximately 10 metres.

To the right of the main temple block stands a three-storey entrance range. This features a six-panel door glazed to the top, flanked by engaged Doric columns supporting an entablature and cornice. Above is a three/six-pane sash window similar to those of the main block. A red sandstone second storey with Bath stone dressings and six/six-pane sash window was added in 1822.

INTERIOR

The entrance hall has a flagged floor and cornice with palmette decoration. A curving cantilevered stone stair with wrought iron railings and wooden handrail ascends from here; the railings display a distinctive primitiist classical design with knobs to the base and scrolls to the top. An alcove lies halfway up the stair, which is lit by an oval lantern.

Two further rooms occupy the ground floor: the fresco room running parallel with Cavendish Road behind a screen wall, and the dining room to the south-west. The fresco room is a double cube measuring 32 feet by 16 feet by 16 feet. A notable fresco depicting The Massacre at Sciotes by Barker extends along the east wall. A white marble chimneypiece features Egyptian terms and hieroglyph-enriched frieze. A large nine/nine-pane window with side lights opens to the south. The plaster ceiling retains cornice and rose.

The dining room is pear-shaped, wider to the south and tapering towards a small kitchen to the north. It contains a mid-19th-century fireplace and French windows. Upper-floor rooms are plainer, retaining six-panel doors.

The basement contains a kitchen with dresser, four stores (including a wine store with stone bins), and a former housekeeper's room beneath the dining room, which retains panelling and a fireplace.

HISTORY

This remarkable and unusual Greek Revival town house was built after Barker's marriage. The gallery functioned as a showcase for Barker's own works and as an exhibition space for Old Master and other paintings. The fresco The Massacre of the Sciotes measures 30 feet by 12 feet and is executed in genuine fresco technique on wet plaster. It was unveiled in March 1826 and depicts the Turkish massacre of Chios of 1822, in which 25,000 were slain. Delacroix's celebrated painting of 1824 may have provided inspiration. This was a very early essay in the fresco technique and holds great significance both technically and in subject matter, reflecting the contemporary mood of Philhellenism in progressive circles.

The house was extended in 1822, possibly by H.E. Goodridge, a friend of Thomas Barker. The former continuation to the north was badly damaged by bombing and rebuilt around 1952 as a separate property, now numbered 1 Sion Hill.