Windsor House, Castle Road, Cowes - a little history

This is Windsor House, Castle Road, Cowes. See history in the comments below.

There were several Cowes houses known Windsor House in the 20thC, one in Prospect Road, one in Newport Road, and this one, number 2 Castle Road built in the 1750s.

Windsor House is currently up for sale and property websites notes: ‘The current Isle of Wight volume of Pevsner's The Buildings of England describes this part of Castle Road as 'one the pleasantest pieces of townscape in Cowes', and references Windsor House as 'the nicest' in the group, praising its exceptional mid-Georgian features: 'the weatherboarding on the main frontage is a rare survival in Cowes.' system. (www.spencewillard.co.uk/property/cowes-isle-of-wight-2/)

Little is actually known about the house as for some reason it doesn't appear on many of the censuses, however there are a few snippets of history.

In 1895, William Leonard Redston Warner died at Windsor House, aged just 33. William had been born in Scotland but lived with his wife Rosa and children in Kingston. He was the only surviving son of the late Captain Redston Warner, 3rd Dragoon Guards.

In 1911 John William Cooke, a master mariner lived at Windsor House with his Swedish wife Hildgartte Eugenia, and 11 year old daughter Vera Eugenia. Tragically, by this time they had lost both their sons. Older son John Gustaf George Cicero, born 1883 died at the age of 2, and their younger son Victor William Cooke had been accidentally killed at sea on 16 September 1903 aged just 18 years. Victor had been appointed as a Midshipman (Probationary) with the Royal Navy and on 16 Jan 1904 (posthumously), died as a result of a 'fall from aloft and drowned' serving on a vessel named 'Galena'.

By 1935 Mr W Summers lived at Windsor House. It is unclear who else lived in the house with him, but a newspaper article of the time reports that whilst walking along the Newport Cowes Road one evening in February 1935, he was knocked won by a motorcycle and broke both legs.

By 1939 William H Attfield, a riveter on aircrafts lived at Windsor House with his wife Winifred and daughter Freda.

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