Forest House, Chester
Forest House is in Love Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is a former town house that is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. History. Forest House was built as a town house for the Barnston family of Crewe Hill. The date of its construction in uncertain; one source states 1759, others say in the 1780s. It was at one time "possibly the finest Georgian house in Chester", and a prominent landmark in the city. Only the central block now remains. During the 19th century it was used as  auction rooms, then a furniture depository, and following which it was used as a night club. The building was a Wetherspoon pub between 2008 and 2016. It reopened as a Brew House pub in October 2016. Architecture. The house is constructed in red-brown brick with stone dressings, standing on a stone plinth. It has a grey slate roof. The remaining part of the house consists of two blocks. The block on the corner of Love Street and Forest Street has two storeys and a basement. The west front faces Love Street and has five bays. The lower storey contains  a damaged central round-arched doorway, with rusticated jambs, voussoirs, and a triple keystone. To the sides and above the door are sash windows, above which is a broken pediment containing a round window. The south front faces Forest Street. It is in two bays, and also contains sash windows and a broken pediment with a round window. Behind this block rises a larger block of three storeys plus a basement and attic, also with sash windows. The south front has three bays, and a gable containing a round window. The west front has a rectangular chimney of 14 flues . The north front, facing towards Foregate Street, formerly the main front, contains three arched doorways, two of them blocked, more sash windows, and another broken pediment containing a round window. At the first floor level is a frieze containing vase-shaped balusters in three panels. The rear of the building, facing towards the east, is almost unpierced.