Goldney House And Attached Walls

Goldney House is an early 18th century house, likely designed by George Tully, with significant alterations from 1864-5 by Alfred Waterhouse. It's constructed of limestone ashlar with lateral and ridge stacks, and has a slate hipped roof. The building is arranged with a double-depth plan and combines Early Georgian style with Second Empire alterations.

The symmetrical front of the house, facing onto Clifton Hill, features an 11-window range, with a recessed end and linking sections to a 19th-century stair tower on the right. A forward-projecting entrance section is marked by rusticated pilaster strips, quoins on the left end, a ground-floor cornice, a deeper second-floor cornice, and a balustraded parapet. The entrance itself has fluted Corinthian columns supporting an entablature and pediment, a semicircular arched doorway (with a 20th-century door), and panelled aprons below the windows. The square, four-stage stair tower has a blank lower stage with a left-hand doorway, a pedimented window on the second stage, an oval panel with an eared architrave to the left of the second stage, three windows on the third stage (blind to the left), and an open fourth stage. This open stage features arcades of three semicircular arches supported by paired Tuscan columns, a pierced balustrade of circles, a modillion cornice, a pierced parapet with lozenges, and a steep pyramidal roof with a wrought-iron widow's walk. Pedimented dormers are present on both the tower and the main house roofs. The sides and rear of the house are largely 19th century, including a link to the road featuring four semicircular arches with decorative keystones.

Attached to the east end is an 18th century stable with a central gable, a banded ashlar surround to the doorway, altered windows, an ashlar ridge stack, a linking archway to the house, and keyed bull's eyes in the end gables.

The interior includes a fine mahogany-panelled dining room dating to around 1825, featuring paired fluted Doric pilasters supporting a frieze, a fireplace with Hotwells marble and a glazed tile back, and a carved overmantel in the manner of Gibbons, depicting birds and flowers. A garden entrance leads to a hall and axial passage divided by elliptical arches. A large stair hall to the right contains an open-well staircase with twisted balusters, newels with ball finials, and a fireplace with three-quarter fluted Ionic columns to an entablature and acroteria. The stair tower contains an open-well service stair. The stables have been altered in the late 20th century.

Attached rubble walls extend approximately 30 metres east from the street doorway to a carriage entrance with ashlar piers with ball finials, linking with the stables. A curved rubble wall extends approximately 20 metres from the stable to the southeast. A bond brick wall approximately 40 metres long runs to Constitution Hill. The house was possibly built on the site of a previous house dating back to 1694, and was constructed for the Quaker merchant Thomas Goldney, whose family created the important garden and grotto nearby. It was recased for Lewis Fry by Alfred Waterhouse.