Provost's House, Trinity College Dublin

The Provost's House is a five-bay, two-storey house with seven-bay single-storey wings on each side, which dates from 1759 and was built for Provost Francis Andrews of Trinity College.^[2][3]

Provost's House
Provost's House, Trinity College Dublin
A view of the Provost's house from the college campus perimeter
General information
Type	University administrative building and dwelling house
Location	1 Grafton Street Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland
Completed	1759
Design and construction
Architect(s)	John Smyth, Henry Keene
Other designers	Patrick and John Wall (Stuccowork)
Renovating team
Architect(s)	Christopher Myers (1775) - north pavilion extension
References
[1]

James Malton's engraving of the Provost's house in the 1790s

History

Design

The designer is unknown but may have been the Dublin architect John Smyth. It has a Palladian design with a central Venetian window and doric pilasters and is similar to that built by Lord Burlington for General Wade (demolished in 1935) in London in 1723, who in turn largely copied a drawing by Andrea Palladio. Another version of the house existed in Potsdam in Germany.^[4]

The ground floor ashlar stonework is heavily tooled with round-headed arches spanning over the windows. The centre arch over the entrance door is slightly wider than the others. The upper floor consists of pilasters standing on a string course and supporting a strong cornice at roof level. The two wings are both similar with a three-bay breakfront surmounted by a pediment. It is the only one of Dublin's great Georgian houses which still serves its original purpose.^{[citation needed]} It lies at the north end of Grafton Street near the corner with Nassau Street and has the unique address of No 1 Grafton Street.^{[citation needed]}

Henry Keene may have designed the interior and is recorded as being paid for works in 1764.

Metalwork for the backstairs (1761) and frontstairs (1763) is attributed to Timothy Turner.

It was described by Charles Robert Cockerell in 1823 as follows: "The beautiful front of the Provost's House,...... had been completely spoilt by a high pitched roof and the centre arch having keystone smaller than the sides, producing a disfigured visual effect."^{[citation needed]}

Other usage

In 2017 the house was used as a neutral venue for negotiations between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as part of Irish government formation talks.^[5]