Faithfull House (Central And Southern Parts) And Attached Railings

Faithfull House, now a residential home, is a terrace of four houses built in the 1840s on the east side of Suffolk Square, Cheltenham. It was likely designed by Edward Jenkins for developer James Fisher. The building is constructed of stucco over brick, with a slate roof and end and ridge stacks. Attached iron area railings and a balcony are also original features.

The three-storey house with a basement has 14 first-floor windows arranged in a pattern of 1:6:1:6. The central sections of the façade project forward, accentuated by Doric pilasters extending through the first and second floors, topped with a dentil entablature. A further pair of Doric pilasters sits above the original entablature on the third floor, and a continuous blocking course and copings run along the roofline. The ground floor is rusticated, with detailing in the form of voussoirs above the openings. The ground-floor windows are round-arched sashes with roll-moulded surrounds and chamfered sills. Other windows are 2/2 horizontal-pane sashes; those on the projecting sections have tooled architraves, while ground-floor windows have cornices, and those on the left have console supports. Basement windows are 6/6 sashes. There are paired entrances, some now blocked and with sash windows inserted, with a four-step approach to one entrance with a segmental-arched overlight. Another entrance is now accessed via a 20th-century porch with roll-edged steps leading to a part-glazed four-panel door and overlights.

The interior retains several original features including plasterwork with egg-and-dart cornices, modillion cornices, grape ceiling friezes, some fireplaces, and original joinery. Three narrow, open-well staircases remain, featuring embellished rods and lion's paw newels.

Breakforwards each include balconies with an embellished Vitruvian scroll motif, inspired by the work of Leonard Cottingham, similar to those on Royal Parade and Bayshill Road. The area railings feature scrolled lozenge and stick motifs, some of which have been repositioned.

Suffolk Square occupies land originally belonging to the Earl of Suffolk, which was later sold and developed. The Square was planned but not fully complete by 1820. Faithfull House is part of a notable group of buildings in Suffolk Square. The northern part of Faithfull House is a separate listed building.