Description

CHELTENHAM

SO9421SW THE PARK
630-1/22/924 (North side)
12/03/55 No.123
Longford House

GV II

Villa, now 2 dwellings. c1833 with later additions and
alterations including 2 extensions to rear, c1918. Stucco over
brick with hipped slate roofs, tall end stucco stacks with
cornices. Italianate style.
PLAN: double-depth with central hallway and service range to
rear.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys on basement with attic, 5 first-floor
windows arranged 1:3:1, the central section is raised and has
2-storey bow. Stucco detailing includes end pilasters through
ground and first floors, frieze and cornice; windows have
tooled architraves, frieze and cornices, those to ground floor
on console brackets, those to first floor have pierced
balconies; bow has pilasters between openings to ground floor
and continuous pierced balustrade to first floor. Central
entrance: 3 roll-edged steps, curved on plan to double doors
within paired pilasters and cornices; otherwise bow to ground
floor has 4/4 sashes with margin-lights. Ground floor has
outer tripartite windows, 6/6 between 2/2 sashes. First floor
has outer 6/6 sashes; bow has 3 tripartite windows with 6/6
between 2/2 sashes, and canopy. Attics have narrow casements
to outer bays and 3/6 sash to centre. Basement has 4/4 sashes.
Rear has bow to ground floor with tripartite 6/6 between 2/2
sash curved on section, otherwise 6/6 sashes and 2 tripartite
windows with 1/1 sashes.
INTERIOR: retains many original features; iron open-well
staircase has alternate stick and embellished balusters and
with wreathed handrail to each floor. Arch leading into hall
has sunk panels; mainly panelled doors. Room to rear has
embellished cornice with grape ceiling frieze; room to right
has egg-and-dart cornice and deep ceiling frieze with scroll
motif. First floor retains 2 fireplaces with circle motif.
Front of bow to first floor is a conservatory with blind box.
HISTORICAL NOTE: The Park had been laid out by 1833 by its
owner Thomas Billings as an oval tree-lined drive with a
central park which for a short period in the mid-C19 became a
zoological garden. In 1839 the development was bought by
Samuel Daukes who continued the building. One of the principal
developments influenced by White's and Nash's schemes for
Regent's Park (1809-11), London.

Said to be one of the earliest villas to be built in The Park.
(Sampson A and Blake S: A Cheltenham Companion: Cheltenham:
1993-: 33,92).

Listing NGR: SO9409321160

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26667666

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)