Elterholm, 12 and 12A Madingley Road

Elterholm, comprising 12 and 12A Madingley Road, consists of three linked buildings constructed in different phases and styles. The main house, Elterholm (12 Madingley Road), was built in 1888 to designs by W C Marshall. An attached fruit store to the north followed in 1896, designed by Prince and Sons. A detached laboratory to the east (12A) was added in 1911 to designs by Harry Redfern.

Materials and Construction

Elterholm is constructed in red brick laid in stretcher bond, with decorative applied timbering to the first floor and attic storey gables. The roof is covered in plain tiles. The attached fruit store is also brick-built, with full-height applied timbering over a red brick plinth course and a plain tiled roof. The laboratory at 12A was constructed of red brick laid in stretcher bond, now painted white, with half-timbering applied to the first floor of the south-east corner. Red tiles are hung to the east and west gables over the first floor, with a plain tiled roof covering.

Plan and Layout

Elterholm is roughly L-shaped in plan, with two storeys and an attic storey to the west end. The fruit store, rectangular in plan, links to the north elevation of the house by a corridor at first floor level. The laboratory stands detached approximately 5 metres to the east of Elterholm. It is rectangular in plan with a two-storey elevation.

Exterior of Elterholm

Built in the Tudor Revival style, Elterholm has a hipped roof and is gabled to the east, with two gables on the north elevation and three gables on the south elevation, two of which are jettied. Four red brick chimney stacks rise from the roof. Each elevation is constructed of red brick laid in stretcher bond, with half-timbering applied to the first floor and attic storey. The two jettied gables on the south elevation each feature an attractive curved eaves cornice and carved finials to their apex. The larger of the two gables displays an elegant sweeping roofline emphasised by a dentilled timber band and quatrefoil half-timbering beneath.

The former main entrance is located at the east end of the north elevation and takes the form of a rectangular-plan single-storey porch. This may have been added later as it does not appear on the original plans and is constructed of red brick laid in English bond rather than stretcher bond. The porch has a lean-to roof and a raised and fielded timber door flanked on each side by a three-light casement window over a red brick plinth. The former service entrance on the north elevation of the west block comprises a camber-headed door surround containing a replacement door with a three-pane overlight.

The south elevation has three doors: a plain timber door opening from the east bay of the ground floor to the garden; a double-leaf glazed door opening from the west bay of the ground floor to the garden (replacing an earlier window); and a glazed door opening to a balcony on the first floor. At the west end of the house, each of the four slopes of the roof features a three-light casement dormer window. The house has casement windows throughout, with latticed windows to the first floor of the west elevation and to each attic window. The windows to the south elevation (with the exception of the attic window) consist of leaded casement windows under swivel windows.

Exterior of the Fruit Store

The attached building to the north, formerly a fruit store, is two storeys in height and is linked to the service stair of the house by a passage over a camber-headed arch. It appears that the passage was originally aesthetic and only became a functional bridge in the late 20th century when the first floor of the fruit store was converted to student accommodation. Both the fruit store and linking passage have a pitched roof with a plain tile roof covering. The fruit store and the linking passage are articulated with monochromatic applied half-timbering, a curved eaves cornice and a low red brick plinth course.

The trace of an external stair survives on the north elevation, accessed by three stone steps at the north-west corner of the store. The ground floor is accessed by an original double-leaf timber door on the west elevation. The east elevation has a ten-light casement window on the ground floor and a five-light casement window to the first floor, both with replacement glazing. The west elevation has a five-light casement window at first floor level which does not appear on the original drawings and was probably inserted in the late 20th century when the store was converted to accommodation. A two-light fixed window to the west elevation of the first floor passage has attractive latticed glazing to complement the windows of the house and was probably inserted in the late 20th century.

Exterior of 12A (Laboratory)

The former laboratory was built in the Arts and Crafts style and was converted to accommodation in the late 20th century. It is two storeys in height, constructed of red brick painted white, with red clay tiles hung to the first floor of the east and west gables. The roof is pitched over the first floor, and the south slope sweeps down to above ground floor height to cover an arcaded passage leading east to the entrance. The south slope has one dormer window and one half-dormer window, each containing a four-light casement window with leaded lights. The half-dormer is half-timbered to complement the Tudor Revival style of the neighbouring house and fruit store.

The arcaded passage has four arches over a plinth wall to its south wall, and a blind arch, two blind windows and a glazed window to its north wall. The entrance on the east wall of the arcaded passage comprises a plain timber-battened door with two cast-iron strap hinges and a plain sidelight. The west elevation bears two four-light casement windows to the first floor and a double-leaf timber door to the ground floor, probably introduced in the late 20th century as it does not correspond with the original plans for the laboratory. The north elevation has four large four-over-four casement windows to the first floor and ground floors. A flat section of roof over the first floor windows was formerly constructed of cast plate glass and was probably replaced in the late 20th century when the building was converted to residential use. The east elevation has two two-light casement windows to the ground floor and first floor.

Interior of Elterholm

Elterholm was converted from private residential use to student accommodation in the late 20th century but has retained the majority of its original floor plan and numerous original internal decorative features including the primary and service stairs, wood panelling, fireplaces, built-in cupboards, cornices and skirting. Some original raised and fielded timber panelled doors and door surrounds survive throughout the house, and the windows retain original window furniture, including ornate casement fasteners and stays.

The house has two entrances from the north elevation: the entrance at the east end was the primary entrance for visitors, and the door to the west end gave access to the service area and service stair. The primary entrance at the east end leads south through a small porch to a moulded-brick door surround containing a replacement half-glazed timber door. From the porch, the visitor entered a large hall to the south which in turn opened west into the drawing room. The hall was subdivided into a corridor and a bedroom (Bedroom 1) in the late 20th century, and access to the drawing room was blocked off. Bedroom 1 retains original square timber panelling on its west wall, with fluted timber pilasters either side of a flat-arched opening to the former drawing room to the west (now Bedroom 2).

From the entrance porch, a round-headed arch gives access to a well-lit stair hall to the west, which retains square coffered timber panelling beneath the closed-string of the stair and to the walls. The panelling opposite the stairs has most probably been relocated from elsewhere in the house, as the joinery does not perfectly match the rest of the stair hall. The elegant staircase on the north wall comprises hand-carved beaded balusters, banisters, beaded newel posts and ball finials, and appears unaltered. Above the stair, each window has raised and fielded timber panelling to its reveal and plinth. It appears that the position of the window on the east wall may have been altered, due to the trace of a former opening approximately 1.5 metres below the current window. The stair hall also features an original free-standing bench on the ground floor, executed in a similar style to the timber panelling.

To the south of the stair hall are a former drawing room and dining room, which were converted to bedrooms in the late 20th century (Bedrooms 2 and 3 respectively). Both rooms are accessed from a late 20th-century corridor to the south of the kitchen passage, and Bedroom 3 (former dining room) retains an original fire surround and grate on its east wall. To the west of the stair hall, plain inbuilt timber cupboards and a service hatch were installed in the early 20th century, allowing service between the former kitchen in the south-west corner (now a sitting room) and the former back-kitchen to the north. The former back-kitchen, larder and coal stores in the north-west corner now form a modern kitchen and dining area, and no original features of note survive in these rooms. To the east of the service passage, the former pantry was converted to a shower room in the late 20th century.

The first floor landing has large bedrooms to the south, and a door to the west of the landing grants access to smaller bedrooms and the former service area for this floor. To the south-east of the landing, Bedroom 4 (formerly a study) has been subdivided to include a WC at the north end, and the bedroom contains a plain fireplace, most likely replaced in the late 20th century. To the south of the landing, Bedroom 5 (marked on the original plans as 'Mrs Thornley's Room') has a replacement fireplace and a blocked door opening to Bedroom 6 to the west. Bedroom 5 contains an original half-glazed door which opens east to the balcony. Bedroom 6, to the south-west of the stair hall, retains a plain but attractive carved timber fire surround and is most likely original. Bedroom 7 in the south-west corner retains a picture rail and an original fireplace with attractive glazed tiles and a canted stone hearth. To the west of the stair hall, the former bath room does not contain any of its original furniture or fittings and was converted to shower rooms in the late 20th century.

In the north-east corner of the former service block, a simple but well-crafted service stair gives access from the ground floor to the first floor and attic. The attic contains a former lumber room in the north-west corner (now a store cupboard), and Bedrooms 10, 12 and 13 (to the east and west of the corridor) each contain original plain fireplaces. Bedroom 11 contains a large timber cupboard on its north wall, and it is likely that this cupboard is original to the house and has been relocated from another room. The corridors of the former service area have original integrated raised and fielded timber panelled cupboards, and half-glazing, sidelights and overlights to the doors.

The attached former fruit store to the north retains its original layout on the ground floor (now in use as a boiler room and store room), with exposed yellow brick walls. The first floor of the store was formerly accessed by an external stair on the north elevation (removed in the late 20th century) and is now accessed from the service stair of the house through a passage over the connecting arch.

Interior of 12A (Laboratory)

The laboratory was converted to residential accommodation in the late 20th century. The original interior was designed to have a large open-plan tank room on the ground floor flanked by chambers to the west end, and a large open-plan laboratory on the first floor, with an assistant's laboratory in the north-east corner, a dark room in the north-west corner and a store room in the south-west corner. The interior now contains two bedrooms, a bathroom and a storage room on the ground floor, and a kitchen, open-plan living room and bedroom on the first floor.

The original stair survives and, although plain, shows quality craftsmanship in its execution. It is composed of square-plan newel posts and balusters, with a carved handrail over raised and fielded timber panelling and a cupboard. Internally, the house retains plain timber battened doors and raised and fielded timber-panelled doors throughout. Some of the windows retain original window furniture, including ornate casement fasteners and stays. With the exception of the above, no other interior features of special architectural or historic interest survive.