No. 1 Royal Crescent

No. 1 Royal Crescent is the first building at the eastern end of the Royal Crescent in Bath, Somerset, and is of national architectural and historic importance. It is currently the headquarters of the conservation charity, the Bath Preservation Trust, and also operates as a public "historic house" museum displaying authentic room sets, furniture, pictures and other items illustrating Georgian domestic life both 'above stairs' and 'below stairs'. The house was the subject of a major renovation project during 2012 and 2013 (The Whole Story Project) which reunited No. 1 with its original service wing at No. 1A, from which it had been separated during the 20th century.HistoryNo. 1 stands as the cornerstone of one of the Royal Crescent, built by John Wood, the Younger between 1767 and 1774: one of the most significant urban architectural achievements of the 18th century. No. 1 is one of the UK's most important buildings, representing the highest point of Palladian architecture in Bath. It has a symmetrical five-window front with a central Doric doorcase. The first tenant was Thomas Brock in 1769 and then in 1776 Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Henry Sandford, a retired Irish Member of Parliament, was the first permanent resident and lived at the house with his family from 1777 until his death in Bath in 1796.No. 1 Royal Crescent is a historic house museum, with most of the rooms furnished to represent life in one of the great houses of 18th century Bath. It is owned and maintained by the Bath Preservation Trust through funds provided by memberships and donors to illustrate how wealthy owners of the late 18th century might have lived in such a house. No. 1 was purchased in 1967 by Major Bernard Cayzer, a member of the family associated with the Clan shipping line. He donated the house to the Bath Preservation Trust together with an endowment towards its restoration and furnishing. During 2012 and 2013 the Trust worked to re-unite No. 1 with its original servants' wing at No. 1A Royal Crescent, part of which had once been occupied by the Victorian literary critic George Saintsbury and which had been in use as an entirely separate dwelling since the 1960s.