Callandar

Clifton Hill House
Clifton Hill House
Location within Bristol
General information
Architectural style	Palladian
Town or city	Bristol
Country	England
Coordinates	51°27′12″N 2°36′48″W / 51.453261°N 2.613260°W / 51.453261; -2.613260Coordinates: 51°27′12″N 2°36′48″W / 51.453261°N 2.613260°W / 51.453261; -2.613260
Construction started	1746
Completed	1750
Client	Paul Fisher
Technical details
Size	250 student rooms
Design and construction
Architect	Isaac Ware

Clifton Hill House is a grade I listedPalladian villa in the Clifton area of Bristol, England which is now used as a hall of residence by the University of Bristol. The Warden is Dr. Thomas Richardson, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University.

The house was built between 1746 and 1750 for the wealthy merchant and philanthropist Paul Fisher, by Isaac Ware, a nationally renowned architect and translator of Palladio's works. Thomas Paty, later a notable Bristol architect, worked as a mason during its construction. The house stands on a steep slope, so that while only three stories face the street, the five-bay garden front is four stories tall with low wings (both raised from one story to two during the nineteenth century) and a double flight of steps down to the garden. Original rococo plasterwork, by Joseph Thomas, survives in a number of interior rooms.

The house was later home to the nineteenth century 'man-of-letters', John Addington Symonds, whose father had bought the house in 1851. The university bought the house from the Symonds family in 1909 to create the first hall of residence for women in south-west England.

In 1911, the university bought the adjacent Callandar House, which dates from the late 18th century and is itself grade II listed. It was extended in 1920s thanks to the Wills family (regular benefactors to the university) and, along with Old Clifton, continued to house only female residents. Additional land was acquired and in the early 1960s Fry Wing was constructed on 5 floors ("A" to "E" floors) with South Wing following some 10 years later with its 4 floors ("D" to "G" floors). Clifton Hill House now houses approximately 230 students in total, of both sexes.

The Hall has been used by the BBC as a film location for The House of Eliott and for episodes of Casualty.