Captain'S House

Captain's House is a large detached house located next to Portland Castle. It was built between 1816 and 1835, partly using the walls of former outbuildings from the Castle. The exterior is rendered and scribed, with slate roofs. The building is a long, single-depth rectangular structure with two storeys, entered from the east side, which faces a courtyard.

The east front features six bays with 3-light narrow casements set in painted surrounds, most of which have protective vertical iron bars. On the ground floor, the second bay has a plank and batten door from the 19th century, while the fifth bay has a projecting Gothick oriel with three small-pane casement lights, panelled crenellations, and plain shields. The south end has margin-pane sashes at both levels in deep splayed surrounds, with the ground floor windows being larger than those above. The west front has various casements and some single-storey additions, along with two parapet stacks. The hipped slate roofs are concealed behind a crenellated parapet that features a continuous string course. The crenellations have weathered copings, but the last two bays at the north end lack stone dressings.

The north end, closest to the Castle, has a fine Gothick door with narrow panels and ogee heads, along with a margin-pane sash window at the centre of the first floor. There is a later lean-to addition that is not of special interest. Inside, the house retains a good stick baluster staircase opposite the main entry, as well as a secondary stair with turned balusters in the northwest corner. Currently, the house serves as the residence for the Captain of HMS Osprey, but it was previously the home of the Master Gunner before it came into the Manning family in 1816, when significant reconstruction is believed to have occurred. Before that, the site housed a brewhouse, stable, and suttler's house.