The How

The How

A substantial house built between 1868 and 1870 to designs by William White, The How exemplifies the Arts and Crafts and Domestic Revival style of its era. The building is constructed of gault brick laid in English bond with red brick dressings, beneath a roof of plain clay tiles.

The house follows an irregular plan, with reception rooms arranged along the principal south-facing front and service rooms positioned at the north end. Twentieth-century extensions have been added to the western and northern elevations.

The exterior is characterized by a rambling roofscape with crest tiles, numerous gables, and tall chimney stacks. The most distinctive feature is the polychromatic brickwork, which incorporates lozenge patterns in red brick forming quoins and window surrounds. A brick string course runs around the building at ground-floor lintel height. Throughout the exterior, windows are wooden casements with varying numbers of lights divided by mullions.

The principal south elevation comprises three bays beneath steeply pitched roofs. Each bay receives different architectural treatment. The first bay features a double-height canted bay window with tile-hanging beneath a hipped roof; the second bay is similar but wider, with a gable head rising above the hipped roof; the third bay has a ground-floor canted bay window with a gabled window above. A wide red brick chimney stack with distinctive triangular flue caps dominates the elevation. The first and third bays are lit by French windows. On the south-east corner sits a date stone inscribed "June 30 1868" and the name John Henry Ansley, apparently commemorating Gilbert Ansley's father.

The west elevation displays four bays with a hipped roof and a wide ridge stack. A cupola surmounted by a hipped roof with sprocketed eaves crowns the composition. The ground floor contains a pair of single-light windows beneath round brick arches, followed by a two-light twentieth-century window which replaced an original group of three windows (evident from triple round brick arches above). A multi-pane oriel window beneath a mono-pitch roof and a projecting chimney stack follow. A long twentieth-century single-storey extension in red brick with pitched roof obscures the fourth bay. The first floor is lit by three large three-light casements beneath segmental brick arches and two small windows to the right of the chimney stack. A wide tile-hung dormer window with a large window above eaves level occupies the roof centre.

The long east elevation presents an irregularly picturesque composition of tile-hung gables and varied planes. The gable end of the principal façade projects from the left, its chimney stack rising through the ridge. To the right, a gabled projection with brick plinth contains the entrance porch. The porch features a plank and batten door with long strap hinges, flanked by stained glass windows with leaded lights; two overlights of identical design are set within timberwork. A projecting gabled bay with a two-light window beneath a segmental brick arch follows, topped by a square bay beneath a tile-hung gable. A shallow gable facing north, lit by a tall first-floor window under a segmental brick arch, stands at right angles. The remaining section is recessed with a hipped roof at the right end and a prominent dormer window with tile-hung gable head. A mono-pitch roof covers a single-storey projection beneath, lit by a twentieth-century window. A long single-storey twentieth-century extension in stone with tile-clad pitched roof adjoins the north end.

The interior entrance porch, lit by stained glass windows, is lined on one side by a bench and leads through a wide round arch door into the L-shaped hall. The door has panels of diagonal planks and narrow glazed panels above filled with stained glass in a simple floral pattern; flanking margin lights repeat the same design. The hall contains a corner fireplace with cast iron surround and grate, its tiled cheeks decorated with stylised floral designs. The open well staircase with quarter-turn landing features a panelled soffit, chamfered newel posts, a wide closed string, and widely spaced splat balusters supporting a moulded handrail. The newel posts at the staircase entrance have projecting horizontal members with carved circular designs at their ends. A skylight illuminates the staircase.

The wide doors into the reception rooms feature two lower panels of diagonal planks and an upper panel of vertical planks, set within recessed doorways. The principal reception room, occupying the second and third bays of the south front, displays four prominent ceiling beams with carved ends, a deep cornice, a window seat in the canted bay, and window shutters with long strap hinges; the upper lights have separate shutters. The stone fireplace is not original. The adjacent reception room, occupying the first bay, receives similar treatment except its fireplace is brick with a round arched opening punctuated by brick voussoirs, likely dating from the interwar period. The smaller room to the north of the hall is comparable, featuring a deep cornice and window shutters, though its fireplace has been replaced by a wood-burning stove. The service areas have been modified to create an open-plan kitchen and dining room. The back open well staircase has a plain closed string and widely spaced simple balusters with rail.

First-floor architectural detailing is simpler, comprising four-panel doors, cornices, and fitted cupboards.

At the north end of the house, immediately east of the twentieth-century extension, stands a pair of tall red brick gate piers with pyramid stone caps.