Home Farm House

Home Farm House is a farmhouse, now a private house, dating from the 17th century or earlier. Around 1804, a hipped central clock tower was added, likely by Jeffry Wyatt. In 1877, two crosswings were demolished and the building was recased in brick for Lord Brownlow, and subsequent extensions were built to the rear and south end, occurring in five stages. The core of the house facing west is two stories and has a cellar. It consists of two cells, a central entrance, end chimneys, and a parallel range dating back to the 19th century, adapted from a larger house in 1877. The house is timber-framed with a plum brick casing, accented by lighter red brick arches. The top stage of the clock tower is stuccoed and features a circular dial. The roofs are now slated. The original plan included two windows on each floor and a six-panel door set into the base of the central clock tower. A large early 18th-century brick chimney stack with chequered red and black brick, corner pilasters, is at the north end, with a copy of this stack at the south end built in 1877. Also present is an old bell cupola with an ogee roof, arcaded sides, and a wind vane. A two-story gabled bay window with four-light casements and a weatherboarded gable is on the left of the door. Three-light wooden casements are located on the right-hand side, and a single-story extension is set back to the south. The roof curves down to the front eaves, with the eaves having been raised without affecting the roof’s internal structure. A painting by J.H.Buckingham from around 1820 depicts the house with higher two-story crosswings at each end, a buttressed entrance porch at the north end of the central range, and front eaves aligning with the base of the clock tower’s stucco top stage. The cupola and bells are on the roof, and a broken chimney was once located in the spot currently occupied by the south chimney. The clock, marked "John Thwaites London 1804," is identical to the clock at Ashridge Tower. The farm was the home farm to the Ashridge estate. The stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops remain.