The Towers And Attached Garden Wall

THE TOWERS AND ATTACHED GARDEN WALL

Small country house and attached garden wall, built in 1896 with additions made in 1905 for Mr Levy. The building is constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs, designed in the Scottish Baronial style.

The house rises to three storeys plus attics and features two corner towers, two gable stacks, two ridge stacks, and multiple turrets. A continuous first floor band with moulded ashlar eaves runs across the building, and all windows are plain sashes set in moulded ashlar surrounds.

The south-west garden front is two storeys over a deep basement. The main elevation is a five-bay front with a recessed three-bay centre, approached by a terrace reached via bridge and steps. The central section contains three windows with a glazed doorway below, flanked by single larger windows. On either side stand single-bay projecting wings topped with crowstep gables. Above these wings are single windows, and below are canted bay windows with three sashes each. The right wing incorporates a round corner bartizan with conical roof, while the left wing has a similar bartizan to the left and a tall square stack to the right.

The north-west front features a single-storey addition with a battlemented parapet and central five-light bow window with hexagonal leaded panes. Above this rises a two-storey wing with a crowstep gable, another battlemented five-light bow window, two further windows, and a single upper window.

The irregular north-east front includes a circular tower on the right, two stages high, with moulded battlements and conical roof, each stage containing three windows (the upper ones smaller). Slightly off-centre is a projecting entrance wing of two bays with a crowstep gable and large gabled timber-framed porch featuring double doors and leaded glazing. To the left of the porch is a small window with a single window above to the right, and a tall stair window above that. A short semicircular tower stands to the left of the porch, two stages tall with a crenellated parapet. On the first floor is a coat of arms in a pedimented surround with columns, flanked by single windows with cornices linked to the pediment, and a two-light window below. At the east corner stands a tall square battlemented tower, five stages high, with an attached circular stair turret with conical roof. The north-east face of this corner tower features a canted two-storey oriel window to the upper floors.

The south-east face of the corner tower has a single second-floor window with tympanum, a twentieth-century window above it, and a smaller window higher still. Below is a two-storey canted bay window with a battlemented parapet and three lights on each floor. The south-east front proper has a recessed central bay with a four-centred arched door and a pair of tall windows above, followed by a smaller window higher up. To the left projects a curved wing topped with a crowstep gable and a central external stack, with small curved windows on the two upper floors flanking the stack.

Attached to the south side of the house is a serpentine stone stair with cast-iron balustrade adjoining a single-storey round tower with battlements and a blind crosslet. Beyond this tower extends a concave-faced curved garden wall with two half-round battlemented towers.

The interior retains much of its original decoration, including a panelled entrance hall. Most original doors, doorcases, skirting, coving, and fireplaces survive. The upper floors feature coved strapwork plaster ceilings.