The Paragon, Clifton, Bristol

'The Paragon' stands just above Windsor Terrace (mentioned 10 March in this journal http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1833681). It too stands on a silly bit of hillside, so houses could only be built here if propped up on a huge man made shelf of stone (Vaults). This style of hillside building bankrupted the person who built Windsor Terrace.

John Drew took over and completed Windsor Terrace then, optimist that he seems to have been, started building this one. Unfortunately it seems he started this new task in something of a housing sales slump and like the 1st builder of Windsor Terrace, Drew too went bust half way through the building works.

Built 1809 - 1814. From the picture you can see the location problems. Apparently the very large house at the end (centre stage of the photo) was a late addition to the overall plan. The row has a huge communal terrace running across the back of all the houses and a shared garden below that. Round the front where the access road is you will find the entrance porches to the houses. The porch design seems to be unusual in Bristol and I find them very appealing. There is a private garden/park at the front of the houses which I believe also belongs to this terrace and its people.

A few years ago I chatted to someone who was a resident in these houses. He told me that the communal terrace is great fun as it allows a lot of socialising with your neighbours if you are in the mood, so the people who live here are very friendly with each other. He said the worst thing about living here was the shape of the rooms inside. Many curved terraces have the rooms squared off, but not this one. All the major rooms are wedge shaped. This causes lots of problems with fitted furniture and fitted carpets. It also makes carpeting the properties quite expensive. The chap said it was necessary to point out the taper of the rooms to carpet fitters as not everyone registered it, so you ended up with carpets that just did not fit when delivered.

He said it was a lovely place to live and he had spent many very happy years in his home.