The Hoo

The Hoo is a country house with a complex history. The western range, dating back to circa 1683, was originally built for Dr. Edward Green as a wing of a larger, half-H shaped house that faced south. This earlier southern portion was demolished around 1948. An eastern range was constructed circa 1948 and subsequently linked to the western range in circa 1968. The western range is constructed of plum brick in Flemish bond, incorporating blue headers and red brick dressings. It features a steep roof covered with old red tiles.

The western façade is two storeys and attics high and symmetrical, with three windows. The central bay projects forward, featuring a heavy Roman Doric doorcase with a triglyph frieze, columns, and a triangular pediment. Within the doorcase is a six-panel raised and fielded door set in panelled reveals and a moulded surround. The façade includes a chamfered plinth (now plastered), a moulded band, a wooden eaves cornice, and flush box sash windows with 6/6 panes, each with a flat gauged arch. A segmental head and arch sits above the window in the pediment. The south end has two similar windows on each floor, and a smaller sash window within a pedimented gable featuring a dentilled cornice at eaves level.

Inside the western range, a late 17th-century wooden fire surround is found in the north room, complete with an ornate spit-rack over it, featuring a cornice. A contemporary fire surround with a cornice shelf and central block is also present. The room features ovolo moulded half panelling to the walls, with H-hinges. There's shelving opposite the fireplace, with shaped brackets and a cornice. Ovolo moulded six-panel doors also use H-hinges. Cellar stairs lead up. In the stair and entrance hall are tall ovolo panels, a moulded dado, and cornice. A closed-string staircase with barley-sugar balusters ascends to the attic. A six-panel door with bars leads to segmental headed sashes. A room on the right-hand first floor displays reeded moulding with a patera around the ceiling’s margin. The room’s heavy moulded cornice surrounds a 19th-century marble fire surround. The original fire surround may have been a flat marble one. Dado panelling and two-panel doors with H hinges are visible. The cut-string stair to the attic exhibits scrolled ends to the treads, remaining barley-sugar newels, and a swept oak handrail.