Sunderlandwick House

House. Built between 1962 and 1963 by Francis Johnson for Sir Thomas Ferens. It is constructed of pale yellow brick walls on a stone base, with a stone and timber cornice and details, and a slate roof. The house has a two-storey, L-shaped plan with linked pavilions.

The design is in a Late Georgian style. The entrance is formed in the angle of the two wings, featuring a projecting bow supported by Roman Doric stone columns and inset curved double doors with bronze lion's head handles. Carved stone family arms are positioned between the upper and lower staircase windows to the left of the entrance. The south-west front has five bays, with antae at the ends. The central three bays form an elliptical bow with a parapet and curved sash windows. Flanking bays have tripartite ground-floor windows with shallow arched heads. Stone panels are located beneath the ground floor windows. A single-storey pedimented pavilion to the left has stone steps, two Roman Doric stone columns, brick terminal piers, a curved recess, and a central arch-headed niche concealing a garden door. The south-east elevation features seven bays, with the centre emphasized by an arched recess that was later altered by Johnson to create a garden door with curved stone steps. A screen wall with a brick niche connects a two-storey staff wing with a single gabled bay to the garden and three bays to the side. A tall brick chimney is set centrally.

The interior includes a hall with three shallow groin-vaulted bays extending to shallow barrel vaults, and a niche facing the front door. The study has a stone chimneypiece designed by Francis Johnson, featuring carved heraldic details. The doorcase to the drawing room is pedimented with a carved compartmented plaster frieze incorporating an 18th-century mahogany door. The drawing room has an elaborate compartmented plaster ceiling. The dining room has an arched sideboard recess. The staircase follows a curved stairwell with an underside that is infilled, featuring hardwood treads and risers, and an ornamental iron balustrade fabricated by Wilfrid Dowson of Kirkbymoorside. The inner landing has a Soanic vault.

The house was built on the site of an earlier Georgian house, altered in the 1840s and destroyed by fire on Victory over Japan Day in 1945. The design was intended to respect the surviving stables (listed separately) while also presenting a distinctive appearance when viewed from the park. The resultant house is a skillful and imaginative recreation of a Late Georgian design, executed to a reduced plan, with careful detailing and exemplary craftsmanship.