The Boathouse, Queen's Road, Cowes

Today’s marker pen sketch is of the Boathouse, such a beautiful red bricked building in Queens Road, Cowes.

According to historian John Groves, the Boathouse was a cottage built to accommodate servants working at Stanhope House, as well as a boat! Censuses from 1901 and 1939 show that the house was inhabited by gardeners and maids, most probably working at Stanhope.

Mr Groves suggests that the house was owned jointly by Ladies Blanche and Frances Stanhope who lived at Stanhope. Apparently, at one time the Boathouse was rented out to a woman who kept a vey high class ‘disorderly house’ during Cowes Week! According to a newspaper article upon her death in 1939, Blanche and her sister Frances were ‘well known for the number of society people they entertained during Regatta Week’.

Please read more about the history of Cowes buildings with more illustrations on our page Cowes History.