Beech House, 214 High Street, West Melton

Beech House, 214 High Street, West Melton

A house of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, built of coursed sandstone with stone slate and concrete tile roofs. The building comprises an L-shaped plan with a two-storey, three-bay main house, an additional wide single bay of two-and-a-half bays on the west side, and a two-storey rear north range on the east side. The rear range contains a kitchen and cellars with an extra bay built on to the north end.

The front elevation faces south towards the road and is built of coursed sandstone blocks with scarring to the left-hand corner where a long range formerly ran southwards. The roofs are of concrete tiles with two brick gable stacks to the taller bay (the outer west stack built externally against the wall) and a brick stack to the outer east gable.

The taller left-hand bay has a single vertical row of three windows just right of centre. The ground-floor window has an ashlar wedge lintel and projecting sill with an eight-over-eight pane unhorned sash window. The first-floor window is of similar size with a plain stone lintel, projecting sill, and casement window frame. The attic window lacks a well-formed opening and has a three-over-three pane unhorned sash window. The three bays of the main house have a central doorway with an ashlar surround of plain square-cut pilasters and entablature. The door has two lower fielded panels with glazed upper panels, the longer panels containing Art Nouveau stained glass with bulls-eye glass to the upper square panels. On the left is a canted bay window with timber pilasters and two-over-two pane horned sash windows. On the right is a window with ashlar wedge lintel, projecting sill, and eight-over-eight pane unhorned sash window. On the first floor are three similar rectangular windows with plain stone lintels, projecting sills, and casement frames. The gable walls of the front range are rendered.

The rear range has an unrendered east elevation and rendered west elevation, with stone slate roof, brick ridge stack, and brick gable stack. The left-hand side of the east elevation is built of roughly coursed sandstone rubble; a stone sill and lintel show a formerly small ground-floor window now blocked and replaced by a larger six-over-six pane horned sash window. Above is a stone surround for another blocked window or opening, with a modern canted oriel window on the first floor. A grating marks a cellar window. The right-hand side comprises larger, better-formed blocks of sandstone with a doorway having a deep monolithic lintel and a barred window with similar lintel to the right end.

The west elevation of the rear range and the rear elevation of the main house are rendered, with applied non-structural timbers. A doorway at the right end has a chamfered stone surround with deep lintel and heavy timber door with two small square upper lights. Adjacent on the left is a window with ashlar wedge lintel, projecting sill, and eight-over-eight pane unhorned sash window with iron bars. A similar window above on the first floor has an ashlar wedge lintel, projecting sill, and replacement casement frame.

The rear north elevation of the main house has a taller right-hand bay. The left-hand bay, abutting the rear range, has a ground-floor window with wedge lintel, projecting sill, and eight-over-eight pane unhorned sash window. The taller bay has French double doors with rectangular overlight and side lights set in an ashlar surround with the upper half fluted and a triangular pediment. Two first-floor windows are horizontal three-light windows set in ashlar surrounds with stone mullions and deep lintels.

The entrance and stair hall contains a staircase rising from the rear with the cellar steps doorway facing the entrance. The room has panelling to dado level and moulded cornice with a shallow archway beyond which the wall curves to accommodate the west elevation doorway of the rear range. The staircase has a heavy mahogany newel post with ball finial, swept handrail, and white-painted fluted balusters. The doorway into the front left room has a wide moulded timber architrave and fielded six-panel door. The room has fielded panelling to window recesses, picture rail, central cross beam, Greek key cornicing, and a built-in half-glazed cabinet to the right of the fireplace (which has a modern surround with bell-push handles). To the left of the fireplace is a similar fielded six-panel door and architrave opening into the adjacent room. That room has two beams running north-south dividing the ceiling into three sections covered in panelling and deep moulded cornicing. Window and French doors have deep moulded architraves. A white marble fireplace is present. The room to the right of the entrance hall has a timber and glazed screen with textured and brown coloured glass panels painted with foliage and sparrows dividing it from the room behind. The rear right room and kitchen each have fielded four-panelled doors, with the kitchen's upper panels now glazed. The kitchen retains meat hooks and a panel of seven servants' bells.

The first-floor landing has a decorative plaster ceiling. First-floor doors are of four fielded panels with moulded architrave except the main bedroom door in the rear range, which has a fielded six-panel door with fielded panel reveals and soffit and a fluted architrave with bull-eye decoration. The room has a similarly detailed timber fireplace with iron hob grate. To its left a second doorway opens through to the rear staircase, with a six-panelled door with moulded panels and fluted and bulls-eye architrave. Similar moulded panelling is used on west window reveals. The rear staircase has sawn splat balusters. The front right bedroom has a plain timber fireplace with iron hob grate. The far left bedroom has a central cross beam with fake timbers to the walls, a timber fireplace with panelled overmantel and iron hob grate (adapted by addition of an oval gas fire).

A lean-to glass house attached to the west end of the front elevation, a similar glass house to the north of the rear range, and a range of single-storey outhouses running north-south beyond the glass house are not of special interest.