Ashley Down House

Ashley Down House is a house dating to around 1850, situated in Cotham Park, Bristol. It was previously known as Cotham Lodge. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with ashlar gable stacks and a slate hip roof. It is planned on a double-depth layout and designed in an Italianate style.

The symmetrical front of the house projects slightly at the ends and centre. The ground floor is rusticated with a cornice, while the first floor features paired Tuscan pilasters, a frieze, a modillion cornice, and a parapet punctuated by dormer openings. A deep, central, flagged Corinthian portico with paired columns leads to a doorway with an architrave and a two-leaf, half-glazed door. The ground-floor windows are tripartite with 6/6-pane sashes on the lower sashes, flanked by 1/1-pane sashes. First-floor windows exhibit shouldered architraves and console cornices, also with 6/6-pane sashes. To the right, a lower, windowless block projects, with a rusticated ground floor, panelled first floor, a central niche, and a 20th-century inserted 2/2-pane sash window at the left end.

The left return is divided into three sections by paired pilasters. The central section projects and features a pediment with an eagle atop it. A single-storey stone conservatory with tall casement windows with glazing bars and a balustrade is also present.

The interior includes a 20th-century glazed screen leading to a large central hall with a modillion cornice and a flat arch supported by acanthus consoles. A good open-well staircase features a moulded string and soffit, cast-iron balusters, and a curtail with a wreathed rail. A rear staircase to the right has stick balusters and column newels. Other features include 6-panel doors with panelled reveals, an 8-panel shutter, and a stained-glass rear stair window.