De Laches

De Laches is a house located on Latchingdon Road in Cold Norton, originally built in the 16th century and altered in the 18th and 20th centuries. The building is timber framed, primarily covered with red brick in Flemish bond, with some areas of plaster and exposed framing. It has a roof made of handmade red clay tiles.

The house features a four-bay range facing north, with an internal stack at the left end and an external stack at the rear of the right bay. There is a two-bay rear wing at the left end, which includes an external stack on the left side. A late 16th-century stair tower is situated in the rear right angle, accompanied by a 20th-century single-storey extension with a hipped roof to the right of the stair tower. Additionally, there is a two-storey extension from around 1600 in the rear left angle, which jetties to the left and showcases exposed framing. An early 19th-century single-storey lean-to extension is located at the left end of the main range, along with a 20th-century two-storey extension at the right end.

The house stands two storeys tall. On the ground floor, there is one early 19th-century splayed bay with an iron casement and four fixed lights featuring rectangular leading, one 18th-century splayed bay with sash windows arranged in an 8-12-8 light configuration, and three 20th-century sashes. The first floor includes three 18th-century three-light windows, each with a wrought iron casement, tulip handle, twisted stay bar, and rectangular leading, as well as two 20th-century equivalents. A six-panel door, with the top two panels glazed, is set within a 20th-century gabled porch.

The roof of the main range has a gablet hip at the left end and a hip at the right end. The building features jowled posts and chamfered transverse and axial beams, with exposed plain joists of horizontal section in the rear wing. Inside, there is early 17th-century oak panelling in the entrance hall and the right ground-floor room, some of which is arranged laterally. The original framed stair in the stair tower has flat balusters, some of which are serpentine. The rear left extension retains evidence of a former oriel below the jetty, with a small two-light window on each side, and original floorboards are present throughout.