Harvard House

HARVARD HOUSE Stratford-upon-Avon, High Street (West Side)

A timber-framed house of 15th-century origin with a façade dated 1596. The building was largely rebuilt following a fire in 1595, when the rear was extended. Further additions in timber and brick were made during the 18th and 19th centuries. The house underwent restoration in 1905-9 for novelist Marie Corelli and Everard Morris of Chicago, with further extensive restoration undertaken in the 1980s and ongoing work as of April 1991.

The structure stands two storeys with attic accommodation, arranged on a single-window range within a right-angle plan. The frame is timber with plaster infill on a rubble plinth, beneath a tiled roof with rear brick stacks. Both the 1st and 2nd storeys project on consoles. The gable features enriched barge-boards.

The main façade displays considerable decorative timber-framing. The entrance to the right has a Tudor-headed wide-board studded door with strap hinges and a 6-pointed handle plate. The principal windows are 5-light wooden ovolo-mullioned and transomed units with leaded glazing. The ground-floor window sits on an enriched sill; the 1st-floor window is a consoled oriel; the 2nd-floor window is a bracketed oriel with lean-to roof. The timber-framing is enriched throughout with carved decoration. The ground floor displays consoles bearing figural carving. The 1st floor shows enriched timber-framing, bressumer and consoles, with fleurs-de-lys flanking lettering reading "TR: AR: 1596" (the initials of Thomas and Ann Rogers). The 2nd floor repeats this enrichment with similar bressumer work, masks to window brackets, and decorative framing above the window. The plaster panels were sunk and carved with various patterns in 1972. The brick stack carries two shafts with triangular fillets. The narrow left return features enriched rainwater gear.

The rear comprises a 2-storey gabled wing with an attached single-storey range and 2-storey cross-range, all in timber-frame with brick infill and 2-light windows. The cross-wing has a segmental-headed entrance with heavy door frame and a segmental-headed entry with gate, later entrance and window amendments, and some square framing to the rear.

Interior: A rubble cellar with winding stair and 20th-century joists on a girder. The ground floor, much altered, retains exposed beams and a mid-17th-century dogleg stair with square newels, moulded balusters and handrail. The 1st-floor front room preserves late-16th-century panelling with fluted frieze and 6-panel door. The fireplace has an elliptical brick arch with plaster overmantel bearing three shields in a scrolly frame, decorated with fleur-de-lys, lion rampant reversed, and rose (comparable to work at No. 6 Wood Street and Packwood House). The room displays chamfered beam and stop-chamfered joists. The adjoining rear room has a doorway with slightly ogee head and two rear doorways with 4-centred heads; a panel of salvaged stained-glass quarries with floral designs survives. The 2nd-floor front room contains some square panelling and a plastered wall with remains of red-lined pattern imitating panelling, a fireplace and renewed roof truss, and a wide-board door. Three gabled valley dormers project to the left return.

Historical Note: The house was formerly home to Catherine Rogers, mother of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University in the United States. It was restored by the novelist Marie Corelli, with funding from Everard Morris of Chicago, and presented to Harvard University for use by students and visiting Americans.