Details
BATHWICK HILL
(North side)
Casa Bianca and La Casetta
11/08/72
GV II*
Pair of semi-detached villas. c1846 with C20 additions. By H.E. Goodridge.
MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar, double Roman tile roofs, slate to rear. Garden ornaments on dividing wall of cast stone.
PLAN: Irregular L-shaped plan.
EXTERIOR: Highly picturesque and intricate. CASA BIANCA is to the left, with a west-facing principal (entrance) elevation. Two storeys with three-storey belvedere. Arched triple door with plain fan-light over, with canted single-storey extension to right; to left, a triple arcade carried on smooth Doric columns, with shaped keystones to the arches: arched windows with keystones flank French windows to centre within the arcade. Windows are plate glass sashes. Latticed open parapet in front of setback first floor, with circular feature over entrance with a ball finial. Single French window to first floor, with shutters; deep eaves. Square belvedere tower to right, rising above entrance, with arched window within frame to second floor, moulded chimneystack to northwest corner, meander pattern frieze and antefixes to corners. South-facing elevation forms a part-symmetrical pair with its easterly neighbour, La Casetta. Single windows to ground and first floor of belvedere, the former within a moulded surround with keystone, the latter with shutters and a bracketed sill. Arched window to second floor set behind stone balcony with open, cross-shaped screen to front with lion mask boss to centre. To right, a gabled projection with French windows to ground and first floor, the former with shutters and opening onto a raised terrace, the latter arched, with shutters, and opening onto a stone balcony on brackets, with an open, cross-shaped, curved screen. To the left of the entrance front is a concealed kitchen. LA CASETTA, to right, has a triple arcade to the centre of the south front, as per Casa Bianca¿s. Triple windows to setback first floor with shutters, beneath deep eaves. Projecting gabled wing to right, as per Casa Bianca¿s. Entrance front faces east: plain ashlar elevation to left, with arched window to first floor, deep eaves, central moulded chimneystack. Door to centre between antae with plain frieze over: double doors are glazed, and replacements. Single arched window to first floor recessed bay over door. To right, single window to ground floor within moulded frame with keystone; above, a pair of narrow arched windows; shallow gable end with deep eaves. Recessed service wing to right.
INTERIOR: CASA BIANCA: Entrance passage with skylight and plaster roundels of Thorvaldsen¿s Day and Night. Fine Greek Revival plasterwork throughout. Dining room to left, behind arcade, with chimneypiece with columns of yellow Siena marble. Kitchen beyond, probably added c1870, double-height with glazed lantern over open trusses and large Gothic revival chimneybreast. Drawing room with painted sky ceiling, smaller adjoining sitting room with purple marble chimneypiece with a stained glass window depicting elephants directly over. Stone stairs with cast iron rails beneath a segmentally vaulted ceiling with skylight. LA CASETTA: Generally plainer than Casa Bianca, but retains cast iron foliate rails to staircase, plasterwork, some fireplaces and most joinery.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: A low garden wall runs between the houses with a caryatid statue placed on it. Stone lion outside La Casetta.
HISTORY: This picturesque pair of semi-detached villas were constructed as part of Goodridge¿s development of this steeply sloping part of Bathwick Hill, and probably helped to fund the building of Fiesole [qv], his own house just above. They are fine examples of Goodridge¿s picturesque Italianate style, and, when built, represented the leading edge of domestic architectural design. They also form part of the final phase of the development of Bathwick Hill, and form a fitting close to this highly picturesque ensemble.
SOURCES: David Watkin, `Thomas Hope 1769-1831 and the Neo-Classical Idea¿ (1968), 143; Neil Jackson, `Nineteenth Century Bath. Architects and Architecture¿ (1991), 110-13; Christopher Woodward, Country Life.
Listing NGR: ST7639164512
