Forest Lodge

Forest Lodge is a country house built around 1936, designed by architect Robert Lowry FRIBA for Francis Egerton Pegler.

The house employs a distinctive symmetrical butterfly plan, with bow-ended wings projecting north and west at 90-degree angles from a central concave-fronted and round-ended core. It is constructed of red brick walls laid in English garden wall bond, with a steeply pitched clay tile roof and red brick chimneystacks.

The two-storey house is largely symmetrical in elevation. The curved central entrance bay rises one-and-a-half storeys and is gabled, with a two-light leaded casement window over a plain red brick segmental-arched door surround containing recessed double-leaf wooden doors with cast-iron door furniture, approached by three curved steps. Four rectangular-plan red brick chimneystacks rise from the roof, two above the entrance bay and one at the end of each projecting wing.

The projecting north and west wings initially step out one-and-a-half storeys high along the same plane, each with a single dormer clad in hanging clay tiles and a tripartite ground-floor window containing leaded casements. Each wing then steps back and narrows to two storeys, with two-light leaded casements to the first floor, single-light casements to the ground floor, and bowed ends featuring two single-light casements to the ground floor.

The garden (south) elevation of the west wing rises two storeys with approximately seven window bays. First-floor windows contain two- or three-light leaded casements, while the ground floor displays a variety of one-, four-, and six-light leaded casement windows. The east end of the garden elevation is entirely rounded under a conical roof. Near the centre, a pair of double-leaf timber-framed glazed doors with a single step provides access to the garden, retaining its original handle.

The rear (east) elevation of the north wing rises two storeys, with its south end curving from the garden elevation under a conical roof. This rounded corner has two single-light casements to the first floor and a curved set of double-leaf timber-framed glazed doors with two curved steps to the garden. A shallow two-storey kitchen projection was extended in the late 20th century with a one-and-a-half-storey addition. The first floor has seven two-light leaded casement windows, while the ground floor contains a mixture of single-, two- and three-light windows. At the north end of the ground floor are two sets of double-leaf timber-battened garage doors, each featuring cast-iron strap hinges bearing the manufacturer's name 'CHARLES COLLINGE LAMBETH'.

From the kitchen extension, a long single-storey range built around 1936 extends east, enclosing the south side of the rear yard. It has a shallow-pitched clay tile roof, red brick walls laid in English garden wall bond, and leaded casement windows and timber-battened doors with plain overlights to its north elevation. Two roof lights were added to the north roof slope and one to the south in the late 20th century, while a three-light window was introduced to the west end of the south elevation in the late 20th century, possibly relocated from the second floor of the rear elevation when the kitchen was extended.

Interior

From the central entrance, an interior pair of timber-framed glazed doors leads to a diamond-plan entrance hall, from which polite rooms extend south-east, south, south-west, and west into the west wing, with service rooms extending north and east into the north wing.

South-east of the entrance hall, a round dining room features round-arched niches to the centres of its north-east and south-west walls, incorporating integrated rounded cupboards retaining their decorative door furniture. South of the entrance hall, the study has a fireplace on its west wall, replaced in the late 20th or early 21st century. West of the entrance hall, an oak-floored lounge extends west, providing access to a morning room to the south, which retains a stone fire surround and brick hearth on its east wall.

From the west end of the lounge, oak flooring continues south to the stair hall, which features a U-plan oak stair to the first floor with two curved steps, a rounded oak newel post, and closed oak balustrade incorporating a moulded oak handrail. West of the stair hall, the drawing room has two moulded oak beams to its ceiling and a Tudor-style stone fire surround to the centre of the west wall with a recessed tile and brick hearth. This surround is flanked by window sets in round-arched niches, originally containing fitted seats but now containing movable furniture.

North of the entrance hall, a double set of timber-framed glazed doors provides access to a large cloakroom, which retains two original timber doors on its north wall. The wall between the former pantry and kitchen has been opened up. East of the service corridor, a U-plan service stair survives with a plain concrete baluster and retains its original Bective Electrical Company service bell system.

On the first floor, a long corridor runs along the north side of the west wing, providing access to bedrooms to the west and south. A second corridor runs along the west side of the north wing, providing access to maids' rooms to the east and north. Where the two corridors meet over the diamond-plan entrance hall, the space is illuminated by a diamond-shaped roof light. At the west end of the west wing, the guests' bedroom retains an attractive brick and tiled fire surround. In the south-east corner, over the round dining room, the round bedroom, formerly Mrs Pegler's bedroom, retains its integrated curved cupboards complete with decorative door furniture.

Throughout the house, the 1930s plan form survives relatively intact. All windows retain their original decorative window furniture, and all timber-battened doors and cupboard doors survive with original handles and decorative strap hinges.

Subsidiary Features

To the rear (north-east) of the house stands a detached single-storey outbuilding with a pitched clay tile roof. The walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish stretcher bond, with double-leaf timber-battened doors and a single-leaf timber-battened door to the north end, both featuring cast-iron strap hinges bearing the manufacturer's name 'CHARLES COLLINGE LAMBETH'.

To the south of the garden elevation, a wide path of mixed-sized stone paving survives, extending round the curved south-east corner.