Bedford House And Attached Railings, Walls And Attached Railings Widcombe House And Attached Railings, Walls And Attached Railings

Bedford House and Widcombe House are a pair of attached houses dated 1831, designed by Charles Dyer and located on Richmond Hill, Clifton, Bristol. They are built of limestone ashlar with lateral and party wall stacks and a slate hipped roof. The houses are arranged with a double-depth plan and embody a Neoclassical style incorporating Greek Revival details.

Each house is two storeys high with an attic and basement, and has a four-window range. The front elevation presents a symmetrical facade, featuring a broad central pilaster topped with a pedimented die. The outer sections project forward, each incorporating a doorway one window from the ends. There's a frieze, cornice, and coped attic storey. Open porticos with fluted Ionic columns and entablatures provide access, with plate-glass overlights and six-panel doors. Windows have architraves; the first-floor windows above the porches are accented with pediments, and feature six-pane sashes. The returned elevation is also symmetrical, with a three-window range and a projecting central section. Giant pilasters rise to a cornice, surmounted by a parapet with blind balustrades and flanking stacks with a balustrade in between. A small porch has a segmental-arched doorway, revealing an overlight with glazing bars and a half-glazed door, while above is a large stair window with elaborate glazing bars. The rear elevation is symmetrical, with a four-window range, and the ends project forward with paired pilasters. Balustrades divide the rear elevation into two sections, and the attic storey has flanking panels with pediments. Tripartite windows with panelled heads feature in the shallow inner bays, while architraves frame the outer windows. Six-pane sashes are prevalent, with three-pane sashes in the attic.

The interior includes an entrance hall leading to a large stair hall with a semicircular arch featuring a Greek key soffit. A lateral, open dogleg staircase has cast-iron balustrades with palmettes and a wreathed rail. Other interior features encompass panelled reveals, panelled shutters, six-panel doors, cornices with guilloche, and marble fireplaces.

Attached to the front are cast-iron basement area railings with diagonal bars, supported by low panelled piers and walls to the porticos. Panelled, round-topped entrance piers stand before squared, coursed rubble walls that extend between. These buildings are part of a group of three villas that "set a new standard for suburban aspirations."