Buckingham House and area railings

Cadw's description

Location

Facing the sea near the NE end of the Esplanade, some 30m from the junction with St Florence Parade.

History

Terraced house, later hotel, now flats, c1875, the third house of a terrace of 5. The South Cliff estate was laid out for building on a grid pattern in 1864 by J H Shipway, engineer, on former Tuder estate land, sold to Dr J M Sutton of Bloomfield, Narberth. Shipway's elevations were not used, the architect may have been F Wehnert, who did similar schemes for Milford Haven and Llandudno. The Esplanade was the principal seafront terrace, built up by 1880, but little seems to have been built before 1870. Four plots were marked on the site of these 5 houses on 1864 plan, the 5 houses as built are to a different design than the others on the Esplanade. They may be the 5 houses recorded as in building in 1872, but the deeds for the first and fourth houses suggest 1874-8 as the dates. All the moulded detail has been stripped from the three middle houses, but the original design can be seen on the left end house and has been restored in timber on the right end house.

Exterior

Terraced house, later hotel, now flats, painted stucco and slate roofs with stuccoed end stacks. Three storeys, attic and basement, two-window range, with full-height canted bay to left and single window each floor over door to right. Parapet broken for 2 stucco flat-headed dormers. Windows are 4-pane sashes mainly, 2-pane narrower sashes to canted sides of bay. Cambered heads to attic windows, second floor windows have the upper corners of the reveals rounded, cambered heads to first floor, and ground floor windows of bay have unusual 3-sided heads. Cambered head to door C20 glazed door with overlight. Cambered headed basement windows. Area iron railings with fleur-de-lys finials.

Reason for designation

Included as part of a prominent later C19 seafront terrace, despite loss of external stucco detail.