44, High Street

This is a late 17th-century house in High Street, Kings Langley, which was renovated and extended between 1838 and 1842 for John Kemp to serve as a house and baker’s shop. Further alterations occurred in 1870, converting it into a single dwelling. The southern portion of the house has a timber frame, plastered at the rear but brick-cased at the front, and is consistent in appearance with the northern red-brick section, which is constructed of flint and brick at the rear. A yellow brick wing extends to the northwest. The roofs are steeply pitched, covered with old red tiles, with a gabled wing to the southwest.

The house is irregular in shape, presenting two storeys and four windows wide to the east. The southern portion is recessed, leading to a carriageway with double doors at the northern end. First-floor windows are recessed sashes with 8/8 glazing and segmental arches. A triple sash window is set beneath a plastered flat arch with a keystone and apron to the right of the entrance door. A canted sash bay window is present on the southern portion. The entrance door is half-glazed with an etched glass panel, set within a 19th-century surround featuring panelled pilasters, paterae, and a full entablature. The southwest wing displays exposed timber framing with unjowled posts and a clasped-purlin roof featuring angled queen posts, but no collars. The framing is wide with brick nogging. A cellar is located beneath this wing, and an external southern lateral chimney is present. An unusual feature is the presence of internal sliding shutters to a Yorkshire sliding casement in the southern wall on the first floor.