Rowton Houses

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Rowton Houses were a chain of hostels built in London, England by the Victorian philanthropist Lord Rowton to provide decent accommodation for working men in place of the squalid lodging houses of the time.

George Orwell, in Down & Out In Paris and London, wrote about lodging houses: "The best are the Rowton Houses, where the charge is a shilling, for which you get a cubicle to yourself, and the use of excellent bathrooms. You can also pay half a crown for a special, which is practically hotel accommodation. The Rowton Houses are splendid buildings, and the only objection to them is the strict discipline, with rules against cooking, card playing, etc."^[1]

The Rowton Houses, throughout London:

• Vauxhall, 1892
• Kings Cross, 1894
• Parkview House in Newington Butts, 1897
• Hammersmith, 1897, later demolished
• Tower House in Whitechapel, 1902. The building is derelict, and there are plans to redevelop it as luxury housing (2004). Josef Stalin stayed there for a fortnight in 1907.^[2]
• Arlington House in Camden Town, 2006.^[3] The last and largest of the Houses, and the only one to remain in use as a hostel (as of 2006).

The architect for the bulk of the houses was Harry Bell Measures FRIBA, who also designed the tube stations for the Central London Railway in 1900 and was well known as the designer of many army barracks.

There was also a Rowton House in Highgate, Birmingham, that opened on 29 June 1903. It was built by the Birmingham Rowton Houses Ltd, from the designs and under the supervision of Measures.

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