Highbury Hall

Highbury Hall is a large house dating from 1879, designed by J H Chamberlain for the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain MP, who occupied it from 1880 to 1914. Since 1915, the building has served as a hospital and then as a home for the elderly, and it has been extended with modern additions. The house is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and applied timberwork in the gables, and has a tiled roof with a richly carved brick eaves cornice. It is mostly two storeys high, with some parts reaching three storeys, and has an asymmetrical, L-shaped plan. The main entrance features panelled double doors with a stained-glass tympanum, set within a richly moulded stone arch supported on two orders of pink marble shafts, with a gable above. Flanking the entrance are gabled pilasters, and a two-light window with a carved tympanum and gable sits above. Most of the windows have pointed arches and plate tracery. The building makes extensive use of decorative materials and carved brickwork. The garden facade on the right-hand return is again asymmetrical, comprising a long two-storey wing with two two-storey bay windows, and a three-storey wing featuring a three-storey stone canted bay window.

The interior is of great richness. The Great Hall, with a floor of variegated woods, extends through two storeys to a timber and glazed roof. At one end is a staircase rising behind a first-floor balcony; at the other, a fireplace with carved panels and tiles and a reredos resembling a mirror with crocketed gables. The walls feature pink marble pilasters, a panelled dado, tiles, and carved foliage panels. Gilt gesso decorates the underside of the balcony, which has geometrical railings. A large central brass gasolier hangs from the ceiling. Principal rooms are accessed through Gothic panelled doors with brass furniture and feature elaborate fireplaces with coloured marbles, carved foliage, tiles, and rich ceiling cornices. The former Billiard Room is L-shaped, with an arcade of three bays containing marble piers and two-centred arches. It has a panelled dado and a richly coffered wooden ceiling with painted foliage, inlay work, and geometrical panelling; the fireplace contains a brass surround, pink and white marbles, and foliage carving.