Allan Bank is a handsome Georgian house on the hillside above Grasmere, now owned by the National Trust and open to visitors on a deliberately informal basis: no roped-off rooms, no hushed atmosphere, children encouraged. The house was Wordsworth's home from 1808 to 1811, after Dove Cottage became too small for his growing family.
The house was originally built by a local merchant in 1805, and Wordsworth initially found it ugly — he protested when the trees were felled to build it, and called it "a temple of abomination." Then he moved in, and stayed for three years. Coleridge visited frequently during this period, as did Thomas De Quincey. The house is also notable for a major chimney fire in 2011 that destroyed much of the interior — the National Trust made a deliberate decision to restore it as an ongoing, visible project rather than a pristine showpiece.
The views from the garden over the lake and village are among the best in Grasmere.