The Beeches

The Beeches, originally a villa and now two houses at numbers 224 and 226 Chester Road, Hartford, was built in 1802 and extensively remodelled between 1814 and 1824 for Thomas Marshall, a salt industrialist. A small 20th-century extension has been added. The building is constructed of stuccoed brick with a low-pitched Welsh slate roof and plastered chimneys. It is designed in a Gothick-detailed classical style.

The north front is originally symmetrical with five bays, and is two stories high. The end bays are two-storey canted bays featuring small-pane sashes with Gothick glazing bars, which are divided by colonnette clusters and have label moulds. Cusped plaster panels are situated below the ground storey and above the top storey. A projecting porch in the centre is formed by three ogee arches, with plaster detailing in the spandrels. This porch has a cross-vaulted roof, two Gothick sashes, and a five-panelled decorated door. An iron balustrade runs along the porch, and there are two Gothick sashes above, each with a hood mould. Small extensions are located to the right and rear of the main building.

The interior is richly decorated with Gothick motifs, with the exception of some later fireplaces. The mahogany doors are notably fine. At No. 224, the entrance leads into a square hall with a stone-flagged floor. The walls feature crocketed niches, now partially blocked by late 19th-century pastoral oil paintings by J. Machin. The ceiling is coved and has tracery highlighted with gilding. The main room to the left has a panelled ceiling with geometric patterns and cusped detailing. A stairwell behind the hall contains an open-string staircase with alternating plain and cusped panel iron balusters, a richly decorated ceiling, and ogee plaster hoods over the upstairs doors. No. 226 retains much of its original detailing, including a particularly fine doorcase with an ogee hood on colonnettes. An original external door remains, divided into two-thirds, with one portion showing Gothick detailing and furniture.