261, Hertingfordbury Road

No. 261 on Hertingfordbury Road is a house that was used as an infants' school in the 19th century. It has origins in the 16th and 17th centuries, with some alterations made in the 19th century. The building is timber-framed and plastered, with masonry lining and old tiled roofs. A large central chimney made of red brick, which originally had four octagonal shafts, was rebuilt in the 19th century above a 17th-century base, featuring a roll moulded brick cornice. The structure consists of two ranges separated by a stack and staircase; the right cross wing is the earlier part, while the left wing has a rear stair that creates a lobby entry arrangement, with a later rear catslide wing infilling alongside the stair.

The exterior is two storeys high. The front elevation features a single two-light small paned wood casement window on the ground floor to the left, and 20th-century three-light wood casement windows with divided glazing on both the ground and first floors of the right cross wing. The central entrance is slightly recessed and has an early 20th-century ledged and battened door set in a 19th-century surround, with a small casement window tucked under the eaves above.

Inside, the ground floor right-hand room has a longitudinal chamfered beam with a tongue stop, an early 19th-century fire surround with a 20th-century grate, and four-panel doors with 19th-century joinery in the sitting room. The rear hall contains a 17th-century panelled cupboard in the chimney breast, an early 18th-century close string dogleg stair with barleysugar twist urn balusters, a newel with a ball finial, and a moulded handrail. Access to the bathroom and former back bedroom is from the half landing. The first-floor attic bedroom on the west features an early 18th-century battened door that has been rehung on 20th-century hinges, leading to a lower-level closet alongside the stack, which has a cupboard with butterfly hinges. In the front bedroom of the cross wing, tie beams are visible, cut to accommodate an early 20th-century casement window, and there is a 19th-century fire surround with paterae. The roof rafters have been largely renewed, especially above the cross wing.