Moorwinstow

A small country house dated 1912, with additions constructed around 1950, designed by Norman Doncaster for his own residence. The building is constructed of coursed squared stone with ashlar dressings and stone slate roofs, featuring various stacks, coped gables with kneelers, and a square stone ridge stack on the main roof. The architectural style is a pastiche of 16th-century South Western vernacular architecture, incorporating some reused materials.

The exterior presents a cross plan form with two storeys and attic space. Most windows are stone mullioned leaded casements. A central gabled porch, three stories high, features a two-light window on the upper floors, with a smaller window on the second floor, both having drip moulds. The ashlar doorcase includes an inscribed chamfered lintel and label mould, leading to a studded plank door. Other features include a small two-light window, a large external stack with a deep chamfered plinth and diagonally-set square stone flues, a flush gable, and a variety of window arrangements, several with altered openings to create French windows.

The interior largely retains original features. The entrance hall includes doors with shaped panels and an oak dogleg staircase with turned balusters and a close studded infill panel. A moulded wooden pointed arch with a drop sits above the stairs, with a decorative canopy featuring double round arches above the upper flight. The sitting room and central dining room are linked by a wide opening with a wooden lintel. The sitting room is fully panelled and includes an inglenook fireplace with a single chamfered Tudor arched bressumer, stone cheeks, panelled overmantel, an inglenook window with shutter, and fitted bookcases. The dining room features full-height moulded framed panelling and a chamfered span beam. It also has a Tudor arched fireplace with lattice carving and a brick hood, along with a resited carved overmantel dating from around 1600. Both rooms have eight-panel doors with wrought-iron fittings. The bedrooms also retain eight-panel doors and original fireplaces. The main bedroom features three-quarter height softwood panelling with a cornice, and the linen cupboard has original fittings. The gardens retain their original layout and planting.