Gloucester House or Gloucester Lodge is a former royal residence on the esplanade in the

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germa ...

of Weymouth on the south coast of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was the summer residence of

Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom. Life Youth Prince William Henry was born at Leicester ...

(1743–1805), fourth son of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

, and brother of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. During his recovery from

porphyria Porphyria is a group of liver disorders in which substances called porphyrins build up in the body, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria, as symptoms are ...

in 1789, George III spent some time convalescing there. The king occupied the right-hand part of the building, and had use of the garden, where the later, left wing stands. His doctors encouraged him to visit the resort to benefit from the sea air and salt water. The patronage of the king was important in drawing fashionable society to the south coast town. Having been a hotel for most of the 20th century, the building then became a private residence, having been renamed Gloucester Lodge after conversion into flats. The lower ground floor contains a pub and restaurant that was known as the Cork and Bottle, but has now changed names and is called The Gloucester.

The building

Gloucester House is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, having been added to the register on 12 December 1953. The house was built in about 1780 and a major extension was added on the south side in 1850. A fire destroyed much of the interior and it was refurbished in 1927. The whole building has a double mansard roof with a valley in the centre. The original building occupying the right side of the range was built as an eight-bay two storey house but now has three storeys, with two levels of attics and a basement. The centre four bays are slightly recessed and the main doorway is in bay 6, with a pedimented portico and flight of steps up from the pavement. There is a range of six recessed, sashed dormer windows at parapet level. The other two storeys also have sashed windows, those on the upper floor with twelve panes and those on the lower one six panes. The more modern range to the south was added in 1850 and has three storeys, attic and basement. The esplanade front has six dormer windows with segmented roofs, the floors underneath having sash windows with stone surrounds. There is a large projecting balcony at ground level. The verandah is supported by cast iron columns rising from the basement, the part of the building now occupied by the Cork and Bottle Public house.

References

{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom Country houses in Dorset Royal residences in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed houses Buildings and structures in Weymouth, Dorset