Kings Weston House

Kings Weston House is a grand house constructed between 1710 and 1725, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and significantly altered between 1764 and 1775 by Robert Mylne. It was built for Sir Robert Southwell, situated on the foundations of an earlier manor house in Kings Weston Lane, Shirehampton, Bristol.

The house is built of limestone ashlar with ashlar ridge stacks and a hidden roof. It follows a double-depth, U-shaped plan and exemplifies the Baroque style. The main facade is seven bays wide and has two storeys, an attic, and a basement. A prominent portico of six colossal Corinthian columns, paired at the ends, projects forward and is approached by a flight of steps. The portico’s central doorway is pedimented and features tapering pilasters and a two-leaf, half-glazed door. The windows on the facade have semicircular heads, bracketed sills and 6/6-pane sashes, with a lunette in the pediment. The flanking ends are each punctuated by two windows with segmental heads and flat surrounds. A substantial chimney arcade, with square stacks linked by semicircular arches and an impost band, runs along the plan of the house.

The south-east front features a central section with steps leading to a rusticated Doric doorcase that encompasses an 8/8-pane sash window flanked by plate-glass sashes, all defined by a wide, shallow pediment and a key rising through the entablature. Above, a large window is flanked by semicircular-arched windows. The north-west front incorporates a slightly projecting centre with a canted bay added around 1770. The rear north-east elevation exhibits a recessed area, reduced by Mylne, with chimney ranges that turn in on themselves.

The interior has been largely remodelled by Mylne between 1764 and 1778, with plasterwork by Thomas Stocking. The front Stone Hall or Saloon features a flagged floor, plaster surrounds with garlands framing portraits, and a palmette frieze. It also contains a grey marble fireplace by Derall. The rear Stair Hall retains more of its original character, with semicircular-arched wall niches containing 1719-20 paintings, doorways around the perimeter, and a fine hanging open-well staircase with turned balusters, fluted newels, a curtail and ramped rail. Open galleries extend to the first and second floors, illuminated by nine late 18th-century roof lights. A fine early 18th-century timber fireplace with fluted Ionic pilasters and a blue tiled back is also present. Most other rooms display neo-classical plaster decoration from the Mylne period. The basement retains original vaulting.

Historically, the house was built for Sir Robert Southwell, incorporating the foundations of the existing manor house, originally on plans by George Townesend. Despite being one of Vanbrugh's smaller commissions, it achieves a monumental effect of concentration and density.