44 Maiden Castle Road was built in 1935, in an Edwardian style from around the turn of the 20th Century. At the time, it would have been the last house on Maiden Castle Road, and surrounded by open countryside on three sides. The original plot was much larger than it is now, but over the years three quarters of the garden has been sold off to build two additional homes. Nowadays, the house is fully in a residential area but, due to its elevated position, the views to the South Dorset Ridgeway and Maiden Castle remain and are as sumptuous as ever.
The house originally had a balcony over the porch but this has long since been removed, but many original features have been retained including the central panelled staircase, a feature stained glass window, picture rails and some of the fireplaces.
The righthand (east) end of the building is a later extension. This was first built as a garage, then a two-storey extension, and now this end of the building extends into the attic space as well. At one stage, there was a flat roof over the extension, but the hipped roof now extends over the entire building.
As far as we know, the house was used as a large private home until the 1980’s when the east end was converted for use as a doctor’s consulting rooms. At about the same time, the garage was converted into the current kitchen and incorporated into the main house.
The major conversion into Aquila Heights Guest House was carried out at the start of the new millennium. There was little change to the ground floor, but the first floor was remodelled to create the six guest bedrooms and bathrooms that we see today. It was also at this time that the main roof was extended over the full width of the building.
We took over the business in Spring 2016. We haven’t made any structural changes, but we are gradually updating the interior. We love the historical aspects of the house and will be retaining all the period features, whilst providing modern comforts and style so that our guests can continue to relax in home-from-home comfort.