Pallas House (Cheltenham And Gloucester College Of Higher Education)

Pallas House, now part of Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, is a villa built around 1833-1850. The exterior is stucco over brick, with a hipped slate roof and stucco chimney stacks. It is a double depth plan with a central hallway and a rear, left staircase. The outer bays project forward. A moulded band runs along the first-floor sill line. The windows have tooled architraves; the ground-floor windows have wide cornices resting on consoles. The outer bays have triple windows – the first floor has windows with single sashes, and the ground floor has sashes with two horizontal panes. A flight of steps leads to the central entrance, which has a two-panel door with sidelights and overlight, set within a pilastered architrave. Dormer windows in the gabled roof have single sashes. To the left return is a round-arched window illuminating the staircase, featuring a sash window with two horizontal panes, round arches, and margin lights.

The interior retains original plasterwork and joinery. A narrow open-well staircase has balusters with a rod-on-lotus design. Rooms on the right feature deep coving with a lattice motif; the hall has acanthus modillions and fleurons. The door frames have tooled architraves and the doors are four-panelled.

Historically known as 'Easton Grey', Pallas House was used by Cheltenham Ladies' College as temporary wartime accommodation in 1939, and was purchased by St Mary's College in 1946. The surrounding Park was laid out around 1833 by Thomas Billings. Initially, it was an oval, tree-lined drive with a central park which briefly operated as a zoological garden in the mid-19th century. Samuel Daukes continued the development after 1839. The building reflects the influence of White and Nash’s work on Regent’s Park in London (1809-11). The interior is noted for its “particularly rich decoration.”