Shendish House And Attached Walled Garden And Octagonal Summerhouse

Shendish House is a country house built between 1854 and 1856 for Charles Longman, a partner in the publishing house of Longmans. It is located off London Road, Kings Langley, and includes an attached walled garden and an octagonal summerhouse. A garden room wing was added in 1871, a new entrance porch in 1902, and another garden porch in 1910. The house is constructed of grey brick with Bath stone dressings and chimneys, a Portland stone plinth, and steep graduated slate roofs.

It is a large, L-shaped house designed in a Jacobean style, facing east, with a rectangular walled garden attached to its northwest corner, and an octagonal summerhouse at its southwest angle. The east front is nearly symmetrical, with a stepped roofline and separate stone gable parapets and end chimneys to each section. The central three-window section projects slightly and features a large canted bay window rising from a basement area with a stone balustrade. A small, semi-octagonal bay is centrally placed on the first floor, flanked by square-headed two-light stone windows with labels. The parapet rises into a gabled dormer with ogee coping and a large central finial. The side bays are narrower, with similar features above the ground floor, but include two two-light windows on the ground floor and an original square projecting stone porch inscribed with '1855'. Projecting gabled end wings have shaped gable parapets, central finials, and square-headed two-light windows on each floor. An arcaded stone porch and adjoining lobby were added to the south wing in 1902, built in the same style.

Inside, the large entrance hall has a staircase with tall mullioned and transomed stone windows and twisted turned balusters. An arcaded screen and elaborate Jacobethan fireplace are found in the entrance hall, and a similar screen exists in the garden room. The south rooms have dado panelling and a deep strapwork frieze, and a bar features an ornate French rococo white marble chimneypiece. The south front, facing the walled garden, is of grey brick with three Tudor-arched entrances and pilasters alternating with piers. An iron gate, dated 1898, is also present. The roofless octagonal summerhouse features steps, a damaged mosaic floor, and carved stone decoration.