Maister House

Maister House stands on the west side of High Street in Hull's Old Town, a rare surviving reminder of the international trade the city enjoyed in Georgian times. After fire damaged an earlier house, the merchant Henry Maister commissioned Joseph Page to build a new one in 1743, and it is said the staircase was made of stone because Maister's wife and infant child died when its wooden predecessor collapsed. Behind a plain brick Palladian front, the Grade I listed interior centres on that staircase, rising through three storeys to an octagonal lantern, with a wrought-iron balustrade by Robert Bakewell and stucco panels by Page. The house is occupied by tenants and closed to visitors for most of the year, with only the entrance hall and staircase shown on selected days such as Heritage Open Days, and only assistance dogs may go inside. Reviewers who caught an open day call it well worth a visit, while others found the doors locked. Tips from visitors: check for an open day before travelling, and pair the visit with the free museums close by.