22 Park Circus is a 19th-century

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

in the West End of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. Originally a family home, it was later a club and an Italian consulate. From 1994 to 2013 the building housed the city's

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

Construction

The house forms part of Park Circus, the focal point of the high-end area known as the Park district of the West End of the city. Built to the designs of architect Charles Wilson in the mid-nineteenth century, the area sits atop Woodlands Hill and is named for its proximity to

Kelvingrove Park Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. History Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, a ...

, which it overlooks. Park Circus itself sits on the very top of the hill and is split into four curved terraces around a private garden, and Number 22 sits at the end of the southwest terrace, on the corner with Park Street South. Although Park Circus was constructed between 1857 and 1858, work on Number 22 did not begin until 1872, completed in 1874.

History

The house was originally built for Walter Macfarlane, a wealthy Glasgow industrialist and founder of the Saracen Foundry. After his death in 1885, the house was taken over by his nephew, Walter Macfarlane II, who employed Glasgow style architects James Salmon and J Gaff Gillespie to modernise the building. Their refurbishments, between 1897 and 1899, included a cast iron conservatory, as well as an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

room with glass-domed anteroom. Macfarlane also employed noted sculptors Francis Derwent Wood, Albert Hodge and Johan Keller to make wood carvings for the house, including the new front door. In 1934, the building was acquired as an Italian

social club A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...

, known as Casa D'Italia, and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was used as a regional Italian

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

. In 1990, the building was acquired by developers, who, in co-operation with

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

, began a programme of restoration. The renovation work undertaken by the owners meant that all rooms retained their period features, including fireplaces. In 1994 it was leased to Glasgow City Council, which operated the building as the city's

for civil marriages. 22 Park Circus was opened as Marriage Suites by James Robison JP. The building offered five marriage suites: * The Lomond Suite occupied the former Library, overlooking Park Circus and seated fifty-five guests. * The Kelvin Suite was situated in the former Dining Room, and seated fifty-five guests. * The Avon Room was located in the conservatory, and seated twenty guests * The Katrine Suite was in the first floor Drawing Room of the house, and seated fifty-five guests. * The Clyde Suite was in the former Master Bedroom, and had room for thirty guests. Behind the conservatory is the former Victorian Turkish bath, where private ceremonies were held without guests. In July 2013 the council's lease expired and the register office closed. Together with the rest of Park Circus, no.22 has been protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...

since 1970.

References

External links

Information from Glasgow City Council on both the house and weddings at 22 Park CircusPictures from a visit to 22 Park Circus, showing some architectural detail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park Circus, Glasgow, 22 Houses in Glasgow Tourist attractions in Glasgow Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Listed houses in Scotland Houses completed in 1874