Regent House with Attached Railings Gate Gate Piers and Boundary Wall

Regent House with Attached Railings, Gate, Gate Piers and Boundary Wall

A villa now in residential use, built circa 1825 with later additions and alterations. Designed by architect J.B. Papworth as the home of Pearson Thompson. A late 20th-century range to the right is not included in the listing.

The building is constructed of ashlar over brick with a concealed roof, end stucco stacks, and iron railings and gate with ashlar piers and pinkish-brown brick walls. The plan is of double depth with a central hallway.

The main elevation presents three storeys over a basement. The principal frontage has three first-floor windows with a two-storey, two-window range set back to the right. A first-floor sill band and second-floor band are surmounted by a frieze and cornice with blocking course. The first floor contains 6/6 sash windows; the centre window has a tooled architrave with frieze and cornice. The second floor has 3/3 sash windows, all in plain reveals with sills. The ground floor features an outer tripartite 6/6 window between two 2/2 sashes in plain reveals, with a cambered arched recess to the head. The basement contains 8/8 and 2/2 sashes.

The central entrance comprises part-glazed doors with margin-lights and fanlight within a glazed conservatory and projecting porch. To the street line, the porch has a 6-panelled door with architrave, pilasters, frieze, cornice and blocking course. Round-arched windows with margin lights flank the porch. The right-hand range displays 6/6 and 3/3 sashes. The rear elevation includes a two-storey canted bay window to the left and several 6/6 sashes.

The interior retains many original features. An open-well staircase has alternate stick and embellished iron balusters with wreathed handrail and carved tread ends, lit by an octagonal skylight to the stairwell. A rear room features a ceiling rose with honeysuckle motif and guilloche motif to the cornice, along with a marble fireplace on acanthus corbel brackets. The front room has a cornice with guilloche motif and a Regency marble fireplace. Doorcases throughout have fluted architraves and fleurons to cornices.

The railings comprise a gate to the left of the porch, followed by spearhead railings with bars and dogbars curved on plan for approximately 8 metres, with anthemion finials to stanchions. To the right, similar railings extend for approximately 5 metres to a gate, then a pier with panelled shaft, lozenge panel to frieze and moulded cap. Boundary walls abut the railings at left and extend to the left return for approximately 50 metres with a pedestrian plank gate, ending at a similar ashlar pier.

This is one of the few remaining villas in Cheltenham that can be attributed to Papworth. As noted by architectural historian Verey, it forms the prototype of Papworth's characteristic small house type of three bays, with three-light windows and segmental recess above either side of the front door. Pearson Thompson, along with his son Henry, was the developer of the Montpellier and Lansdown Estates. The house forms an architectural unit with the Stables and Carriage House to Regent House and its boundary wall and gate piers. The boundary wall and gate piers were listed separately on 14 December 1983.