Location: 8 York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG
Ralph Allen’s Town House is a Grade I listed townhouse in Bath, on Terrace Walk, begun in or shortly after 1727 by the entrepreneur Ralph Allen. It’s thought unlikely he ever actually lived there, having stayed on at his Lilliput Alley home before later moving to Prior Park in 1745. Its architect remains debated, with both John Wood the Elder and Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, suggested as possible designers; its ornate rustication, Corinthian pillars and decorated pediment may have been intended simply to showcase the fine carving qualities of Bath Stone. The building has also gone by the names “The Post House” and “The Old Post House,” reflecting its historic ties to Allen’s postal business, and its history remains something of a puzzle for historians, with much still uncertain about its original form and a since-vanished “north wing.”