John Of Gaddesden'S House

This is a timber-frame house, originally a court house, dating back to approximately 1500. It has undergone significant alterations and extensions over the centuries, including substantial changes in the late 17th century, a restoration in 1898, and further additions in 1948-52 by the architect Frank Jennings, and a rear extension around 1978. The building incorporates elements from Hawstead, Suffolk, and Wrestlingworth Manor, Bedfordshire.

The house is constructed with timber framing on brick sills, with exposed close studding on the ground floor. The first floor features panelled radial pattern pargetting, boldly jettied on the west front. The front wing is a higher red brick, also with exposed close studding and plastered panels. The roof is covered with steep old red tiles. Windows are 3-light flush casements with iron opening lights and leaded glazing.

A large two-story section faces west, featuring an upper hall at the south with a rich, bold 4-foot jetty and wide arched openings, reminiscent of original shop windows. A stair exists on the north side, possibly original. The north crosswing is also jettied on the west gable, with higher floor levels and a plainer appearance. A gabled dormer is present in the hipped front roof. A large chimney is situated at the junction of the wings.

The front wing was originally a two-bay open hall, later fitted with an inserted floor and a large internal red brick chimney from Essex. The two-story north wing is of painted brick, featuring a modillioned eaves cornice and cross windows with leaded glazing. The first-floor hall is notable for the profusion and quality of its ornamental features, suggesting a former communal purpose such as a marriage feast house or court house.

Inside, the building displays features such as close studding, moulded arched wind braces, cambered tie-beams with carved knee braces to moulded jowled posts. The roof’s intermediate trusses have cambered collars and solid arched braces with carved spandrels, and stub tie-beams with human heads (renewed in plaster during the restoration).

A late 17th-century conversion to a house involved filling ground floor openings, installing a brick stack, and creating a lobby entrance on the west side. A raised and fielded panelled ground floor room was formed by incorporating part of a lean-to. The first floor likely had a partition inserted at the central truss.

The north wing includes a brick kitchen on the ground floor with the first floor corbelled on three moulded courses. The transplanted 16th-century front wing features a crown-post roof, fine moulded joists and a main beam, a 4-centre arched chamfered brick fireplace, and diamond mullioned windows. A bolection moulded fire surround is found on the first floor of the north wing.