Painswick Hotel

The Painswick Hotel is a late 18th-century detached house, originally built as a private residence, and subsequently adapted for use as a hotel. It was altered and extended in 1902 and 1903 by Detmar Blow. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with stone slate roofs, with part of the main block having a concrete tile roof. The building is a compact, symmetrical late Palladian house, with extensions to the rear and to the right, encompassing a two-storey wing.

The main front of the building has a 1:3:1 window arrangement across three storeys and a basement. The windows are glazing bar sashes in plain reveals, with a Venetian window on the central first floor, featuring square Doric pilasters and an entablature to the side lights, and a circular oculus in the central pediment. The basement level has two blocked openings and two horizontal paned lights. A pair of 20th-century glazed doors are set within a pedimented Doric doorcase, approached by a double flight of stone stairs with a simple wrought iron balustrade. A plank door with studs is located centrally at the basement level, set within an arched head. Features include a plinth, plat band, and a cill band at first floor level, a moulded cornice and blocking course, with the central three bays stepped forward. This design is repeated to the right and to the left of the main block.

To the right is a two-storey wing ending in a semicircular bay, dated IHS 1903, which features an oculus above a Palladian window. The left return has one bay detailing mirroring the main front, with 20th-century French doors at ground level. An attached two-gabled extension, built in 1903 using dressed coursed stone, includes a two-arched, flat-roofed loggia which accounts for changes in ground level. This wing is in a “Cotswold” style, with various stone mullioned casements set beneath stopped hoods, including a large king-mullioned four-light window with transom at ground floor level. One gable is slightly set back from the 18th-century alignment, and the other steps forward to accommodate the loggia. Beyond, a decorative balcony balustrade with ball finials is located to the left. Three large chimney stacks with simple cappings are present; the 18th-century block has a hipped roof.

The interior includes a stick baluster staircase leading to a reception area with a 1903 plastered ceiling and decorations. A lounge on the first floor has a replacement fireplace with a fluted frieze and green tile fireback, alongside a simple cornice and eight-panel doors. The dining room below features a white marble fire inset with an elegant surround and dentilled mantel shelf. An original dining room extends into the 1903 wing and has simple shutters.