The Round House
The Round House (1959-60, listed Grade II, 1971) is one of a
pair of Baroque shops linked by an overhead walkway. The concept of
bow fronted gate house and archway was already present in
the model of his 'ideal village'. In
1934 Clough rebuild Cornwell manor and village centre in
Oxfordshire; the village hall he designed in 1938 (below right)
bears similarity to the Round House. In 1966 Patrick McGoohan used
the Round House as Number Six's residence in The Prisoner. The
interiors were filmed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, Borehamwood.
The interior of No. 6's house was an exact replica of his London
home which is seen in the first episode.
The Round House is of course too small to accommodate a spacious lounge, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen and this can come as a surprise to visitors who know it from the television series. The building now houses Number Six, the Prisoner Shop. Clough wrote of the Prisoner, "Patrick McGoohan's ingenious and indeed mysterious television series The Prisoner...stands alone for its revealing presentation of the place. When seen in colour at the local cinema, a performance he kindly arranged, Portmeirion itself seemed, to me, at least, to steal the show from its human cast." At basement level there is an archway with a marble Roman statue on a pagan altar.