Southwood

CHELTENHAM

SO9421SE THIRLESTAINE ROAD 630-1/23/941 (South side) 12/03/55 Southwood (Formerly Listed as: THIRLESTAINE ROAD (South side) College House)

GV II

Villa. Built before 1820 by R Varden, the architect and landscape gardener. Stucco over brick with hipped slate roof, 3 tall gault brick stacks with cornices; and wrought-iron verandah to garden facade. EXTERIOR: front elevation has 2 storeys, 3 first-floor windows. Stucco detailing includes 4 pilasters with sunk panels to full height; ground-floor windows with tooled round-arched recesses; cornice. Wide eaves. 6/6 sashes throughout, taller to ground floor, in plain reveals and with sills. Arched entrance with 4-panel, part-glazed double doors and side-lights and fanlight with decorative radial glazing bars, within porch with coupled Ionic columns and entablature. Garden elevation has 2 storeys, 2:3:1:3:2 first-floor windows including 2 bows to full height (the 3-window bays). Mainly 6/6 sashes throughout, those to bows curved on section, except to left bow a central ground-floor 6-pane French window with overlight; all with plain reveals and with sills. 2 octagonal, glazed cupolas to roof. INTERIOR: retains original joinery and plasterwork; fine Adam-style mantel, enriched and with detached columns to ground-floor; dogleg staircase to hall has embellished iron balusters; doors have tooled architraves. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: ground-floor verandah to bows with lead-enriched rails and trellis uprights, Greek key frieze. HISTORICAL NOTE: known in the C19 as Lake House, and shown as such on Merrett's Map of 1834. A graceful design in the Regency manner. (The Buildings of England: Verey D: Gloucestershire: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: London: 1970-: 154; Chatwin A: Cheltenham's Ornamental Ironwork: Cheltenham: 1975-1984: 25; Merrett HS: Plan of the Town of Cheltenham: 1834-).

Listing NGR: SO9499221274