Bailrigg House

Bailrigg House

House, now offices, built between 1899 and 1902 by the Liverpool architects Woolfall and Eccles for Herbert Storey. The building is constructed mostly of brick with sandstone dressings beneath a roof of flat tile with carved wooden barge boards and multiple tall chimneys. The upper storeys feature a timber façade creating a half-timbered effect. The house follows a longitudinal plan with the main entrance on the long east front and the principal rooms to the south overlooking the gardens, with the remainder of rooms and services positioned to the north.

The exterior displays Arts and Crafts style across two storeys with multiple roofs, gables, gablets, dormers and windows of varying styles. The entrance front features a central projecting gabled bay of brick with stone dressings and timber façade to the upper floors, with multiple Tudor style chimneys. The main entrance comprises an iron studded oak plank door with art deco hinges and door furniture, surmounted by a heavy carved lintel bearing the initials D. L and E. M to either side. The upper storeys rest on stone corbels with a single mullion and transform window to the left. Five-light first floor leaded windows and a three-light oriel window above in the gable end are present, along with a stone dressed mullion and transform two-light window with Tudor arched tops to the left of the projecting bay. Various other windows include some sashes with leaded lights, stone mullions and metal framed examples.

The left return features a large external chimney stack, doors to the garden and a square bay at ground and first floor levels with a spiral fire escape, flanked by dormers either side of the chimney. The garden front displays a central projecting three-storey bay with gablets at either end and double height canted bays, with timber façade to the upper storeys. A variety of window types is present including sashes, mullion and transforms, some with Tudor arched tops and castellated lintels. Two projecting stone gargoyles and roof finials ornament the elevation. An attached terrace of two levels adjoins this front: the upper level features two sets of steps formed of red brick surmounted by a decorative balustrade with ashlar copings, while the lower terrace is formed of stone surmounted by a latticework balustrade of cement blocks. The right return comprises a single gable with wooden attic façade, with single storey brick built garages and stables to the right.

The interior retains a largely unaltered plan over all three floors. The principal rooms occupy the ground floor and first floor, many featuring panelling, ceiling cornices, original deep skirtings, doors and door furniture, and original chimney-pieces, some with mantle shelves and overmantels. Windows throughout display a variety of forms with some original fittings, original leading and shutters.

The entrance lobby has a terrazzo floor and double heavy wooden doors opening into a large hall with wood panelled walls. To the right lies a small oak panelled vestibule with a carved door surround, while to the left stands a large fireplace with an arching stone surround decorated with carved Tudor flowers and surmounted by a beaten copper hood. An ornately decorated open well main staircase rises from the hall, featuring turned balusters supporting a handrail and adorned with carved wooden figures including devils.

Principal ground floor rooms open from the hall, including a drawing room, dining room, morning rooms and billiard room, most retaining original chimney pieces of varied styles. The billiard room features a coved plaster ceiling decorated with signs of the Zodiac. A spinal corridor runs from the entrance hall to the right, with rooms positioned off either side—mostly plain service rooms, though one room on the garden side to the west retains original features including oak panelling and an elaborate wooden and brick fireplace. The first floor contains principal bedrooms at the south end accessed via a spinal corridor, with rooms to all sides. Other rooms are plainly decorated with deep skirtings, plain cornices and original doors, frames and door furniture. Some rooms contain fitted cupboards and shelving. A back staircase with plain stick balusters and turned newels serves the upper floors. The third floor repeats the plan of the second floor, with a spinal corridor and plainly decorated rooms off.

This well-executed, high quality large early 20th-century house in vernacular revival style combines to advantage many features of the Arts and Crafts movement and preserves a substantial number of quality original features.