Hill House Including Frontage Wall To North And Boundary Wall

Hill House is a large town house, now divided into 17 flats, dating from the early and mid-19th century. It is situated on the High Street in Saffron Walden, along with a frontage wall to the north and a north boundary wall. The building is constructed of ashlar and stuccoed brickwork, with slated hipped roofs. The main block is four storeys high, with a three-storey extension to the north and a recessed centre leading to the garden. Wide, overhanging eaves feature moulded soffits, and there are three tall stacks with cornices and close-spaced modillions.

The High Street elevation of the main block has stucco bands between each storey, and a central two-storey bow slightly projects forward. The third-floor windows are three 6-pane double-hung sashes. The second floor has three similar, deeper, 12-pane double-hung sashes. The first floor has one similar window on either side of the central bow, which itself features three windows. Ground-floor windows are of a similar style, arranged in a symmetrical pattern, with 9 panes, segmental arches, and keystones. A projecting, flat-roofed porch is located to the south, with a deeply recessed door between pilasters to form a lobby. This porch features a serpentine curved parapet, a flight of six stone steps, recessed bootscrapers with wrought-iron handrails, and a door of four raised and fielded panels. The north extension to the High Street comprises similar windows arranged in a three-storey pattern; the first and second floors have two 12-pane double-hung sashes, and the ground floor has two small, segmental arched, 9-pane double-hung sashes. A short stuccoed wall along the frontage provides access to the garden with a segmental arched doorway.

The rear elevation exhibits an elaborate Italianate Villa style, with a recessed centre and an open loggia arcade connecting the side pavilions. The rear is also three storeys high and has stucco moulded bands between storeys. The recessed centre has three double-hung sash windows on the first and second floors, with plain stucco surrounds. The loggia features four segmental arches on square piers, each with naturalistic capitals depicting foliage above the arches. The south projecting wing has three plain double-hung sash windows on the second floor, above three linked windows with single vertical glazing bars, semicircular arched heads, square intermediate piers, and balustrades below. The ground floor of this wing displays an arcade-like arrangement of double-hung sash windows with semicircular arches on intermediate columns. The north projecting wing features a tall arcaded canted bay at first floor with balustrading below and arcaded ground-floor windows, with three double-hung sashes and intermediate piers. The tall boundary/retaining wall to the north is partly of flint and partly of red brick, with buttress pilasters on the north side. The interior has been somewhat altered, but retains a main staircase at the south end. Hill House was formerly the residence of the Gibson family.