Sandhurst And Hill Cottage

Sandhurst and Hill Cottage are a pair of semi-detached houses built in 1910 in Arts and Crafts style, designed by A E Beresford, architect, with later 20th-century alterations. The houses are constructed of rendered brickwork with plain tile covering to an extremely deep gabled and hipped roof. The asymmetrical composition rises to one-and-a-half storeys above a basement, with mullioned windows containing leaded lights to side-hung casements, chimney stacks to the ridge and through roof slopes, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

Exterior

The houses are set parallel to Congleton Road, with Hill Cottage to the left and Sandhurst to the right. Both are of equal size with asymmetrical front and rear elevations.

Hill Cottage

The front elevation has painted surrounds to windows and doors. A central gabled bay features a wide entrance doorway to the ground floor with a slender cambered stone lintel, a door with an inset diamond-shaped stained glass panel, and a small diamond-shaped stone decoration above the doorway. A four-light mullion window sits in the gable with a stone sill and cambered lintel. To the right of the central bay, a three-light mullion window is tucked underneath the eaves (a stair window). The far right has a two-light ground floor mullion window with an adjacent secondary doorway providing access into the pantry and kitchen, fitted with a timber board door, stone sill and cambered lintel. A three-light dormer window sits low on the roof above the pantry doorway. A chimney stack rises to the ridge above the right of the dormer, positioned on the dividing line between the two houses.

The rear elevation follows similar styling to the front, with a raised ground floor due to the sloping ground. A projecting central gabled bay contains a wide eight-light mullion and transom window to the ground floor, a three-light mullion window to the gable, and a squat three-light mullion window to the basement, all with stone sills and cambered lintels. A chimney stack rises from the rear left side of the gable. A four-light mullion and transom window sits on the ground floor right return of the central bay. An enclosed arched verandah stands to the right of the central bay, with brick steps down into the garden. A multi-paned door on the left provides access into the dining room behind, while a window on the right matches the door in size and styling. A tall chimney stack rises from the roof above the verandah. To the far left of the elevation are a doorway and two-light mullion window, with a timber plank and studded door and a short brick stair at right angles to the door leading into the garden. A four-light mullion window sits to the right, with both windows and door tucked underneath the eaves line. A four-light dormer window appears on the roof above. The side elevation has a half-hipped roof with overhanging eaves, a three-light mullion window to the ground floor with stone sill and cambered lintel, and a four-light mullion window to the first floor underneath the eaves.

Sandhurst

The main central section of the front elevation projects forward slightly with an M-shaped half-hipped roof and overhanging eaves. A wide central doorway with porch sits at ground floor, fitted with a four-plank door with long wrought-iron strap hinges. A three-light mullion window is positioned to the far left ground floor with stone sill and cambered lintel, with a three-light mullion window below the eaves above. A large six-light mullion and transomed stair window sits to the right and above left of the doorway, with the central upper light containing a small oval stained glass panel. A three-light mullion window appears above right of the doorway. A slender window to the ground floor of the shallow right return lights the internal entrance lobby. A two-light mullion window with stone sill and cambered lintel is positioned to the far right ground floor. A chimney stack rises from the roof above.

The rear elevation has a projecting central bay with a half-hipped roof and overhanging eaves. A five-light window sits at ground floor (originally an eight-light mullion and transomed window, but the central mullions, transoms and lead lights are now lost). A wide five-light mullion window appears at the upper floor, with a replaced uPVC basement window below. Stone sills and cambered lintels remain on the basement and ground floor windows. A chimney stack rises from the roof behind the central bay. A doorway to the far left of the elevation has a timber door of narrow planks and a replaced door handle. A three-light mullion window sits at ground floor underneath the eaves, with a two-light mullion window to the basement with stone sill and cambered lintel. A three-light dormer window appears on the roof (originally four lights; the far right is now blocked up and the adjacent light partially blocked). A small mid- to late 20th-century conservatory stands to the right of the central bay, probably replacing an original verandah, with rendered brick steps down into the garden and a three-light dormer window on the roof above. A sloping rendered wall with brick copings runs between Sandhurst's conservatory and Hill Cottage's kitchen doorway, separating the properties and gardens. The side elevation has a half-hipped roof with overhanging eaves, a three-light mullion window to the ground floor (the left light with replaced glazing) with stone sill and cambered lintel, a three-light mullion window to the first floor underneath the eaves, and two small windows to the basement (the right one of two lights), with cambered lintels.

Interior

Both houses have an identical internal layout except for the position of the main stair. Principal rooms are positioned to the rear of the properties overlooking the gardens.

Hill Cottage

The house retains its original floor plan and many original features including doors, the main timber dog-leg stair to the right of the entrance hall positioned at right angles to the door, a service sink and fittings to the basement, a brick basement stair, and a tall fireplace to the dining room with timber surround, hearth and fireback with small white and decorative tiles incorporating a green foliage design and copper hearth surround. Original timber and cast-iron fireplaces remain in the upper floor rooms. A folding screen partition separates the lounge and dining room. The living room has a replaced late 20th-century fireplace.

Sandhurst

The house retains its original floor plan except for the pantry wall, which has been knocked through into the kitchen. Fireplaces have been removed or replaced except for one original fireplace in the left first floor bedroom. Original features include all doors and door furniture, the main timber dog-leg stair with turned balusters to the left of the entrance hall, original timber board floors (hidden under carpets), a tiled entrance floor, built-in cupboards to the kitchen and basement, brick basement and garden stairs, original stone shelving, and a coal room.

Subsidiary Features

A single-storey detached garage with weatherboard cladding stands to the right of Sandhurst, with a hipped tiled roof and lean-to to the rear.

History

In 1909, plots were laid out along Congleton Road and White Barn Road for villa development on land owned by Lord Stanley. Sandhurst and Hill Cottage were constructed to the designs of A E Beresford for T O Bridge, whose wife was the sister of A E Beresford. The houses were constructed by local builders Isaac Massey & Sons.

After working in a practice in Alderley Edge, A E Beresford joined M H Baillie Scott as his chief assistant in 1905, taking responsibility for the financial and technical aspects of the practice. In 1919 he was made a partner and a full-scale practice was established at 8 Gray's Inn, London (and subsequently Bedford Row, London). This partnership lasted for twenty years until Baillie Scott's retirement in 1939. Beresford continued the practice for a few months but then World War II began and the practice closed. Beresford hoped to revive the practice after the war but this never happened. During the early years of Beresford's employment with Baillie Scott, most designs produced by the practice were worked on by both men.

The strikingly asymmetrical composition of Sandhurst and Hill Cottage is of special architectural interest as an example of early 20th-century middle-class housing executed in the Arts and Crafts style by a well-known architect. Although designed by Beresford, it is believed that the designs for the houses were probably also worked upon by Baillie Scott, as was their common practice at this date. The semi-detached pair of houses display many characteristics of Baillie Scott's work found in other domestic designs and follow his principles both internally and externally, including the maximisation of space and light, an asymmetrical appearance, the use of deep roofs, leaded-light mullioned windows at varying heights, and internal sliding partitions. Despite minor alterations to Sandhurst, many original features have been retained to both houses and they retain their original floor plans. The construction of Hill Cottage for Beresford's sister and her husband provides additional historic interest.