Hotel Du Vin And Attached Front Area Wall And Railings

HOTEL DU VIN AND ATTACHED FRONT AREA WALL AND RAILINGS

House, now a hotel. Built in the second half of the 18th century for Isaac and Benjamin Lester, Member of Parliament, by John Stretland, a local builder.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings, brick gable stacks and a slate valley roof. It is built in a mid-Georgian style and has a double-depth plan with three storeys, attics and a semi-basement.

The five-bay front faces onto Thames Street and is a symmetrical composition with an impost band to the ground floor, cornice and a parapet. The slightly projecting central bay rises to a small pediment and contains an entrance doorway with stair windows lower than those to the flanking floors. Curved steps lead up to a semi-circular Doric portico with triglyphs, and a six-panel moulded door with margin lights. Above the entrance is a central first-floor Venetian stair window with a small lunette above. The basement and ground-floor windows are set within semi-detached-arched recesses with rubbed brick arches. The flat-headed basement and first-floor windows are six-pane sashes including radial heads to the ground-floor windows. The right-hand return has lateral stacks with a central first-floor window above an oculus.

The interior contains a large flagged entrance stair hall with wainscotting, dado and side niches, and enriched bracketed cornice. There is a fine Imperial stair with cast iron balusters, each third one enriched. The staircase is supported on paired wooden columns with Tower of the Winds capitals, going up a single flight and returning in two to the front landing. The rear dining room has a recessed alcove with flanking attached columns and a marble fireplace with a relief of two dried cod, symbols of the family's wealth. There are panelled doors and cornices, and basement services.

The attached front area includes spear-headed iron railings with modern interval panels with decorative wrought ironwork, and a side wall.

From the late 17th century until its decline in the mid-19th century, Poole was considered one of the busiest ports in England, establishing strong trade links with Europe, the Baltic and North America. The Hotel du Vin is a former merchant's house and one of the largest houses in Poole. It was built for Isaac Lester, whose family was prominent in the Newfoundland trade, trading mainly in cod liver oil, the source of much of its wealth. Following Isaac's death in 1776, his brother Benjamin (1724–1802) returned from North America to live in the Thames Street house, becoming Mayor in 1779 and a leading spokesman for the Poole merchants. He served as Member of Parliament from 1791 to 1796 and died in 1802.