Roxford House

Roxford House is an early 18th-century house originally built for J. Brassey. It was extended in the mid-19th century and again in the 1960s by E. Maxwell Fry. The house is constructed of brown brick with red brick dressings, with some parts whitewashed, and has tiled roofs. Originally three bays and double depth, the house has two storeys and an attic. The original front, facing south-east, overlooks the River Lea and the moated site of an earlier manor house, now a garden.

The central entrance has a glazed door, flanked by 16-pane sash windows in shallow reveals with segmental heads. A plat band runs across the first floor, above which are iron-framed, small-pane mullion and transom casements. A timber eaves cornice is present. There are two flat-headed, three-light, small-pane dormers over the outer bays, and a gambrel roof. Four large internal end stacks are visible. To the left is a one-story dairy from the 19th century, with a glazed door to the garden and a segmental head. It has dentilled eaves and a hipped slate roof. The left return features an entrance and casements. The rear elevation has two bays; the ground floor has three-light iron-frame casements with segmental heads, the left of which extends over a door, and the first floor has iron-frame casements and a two-light, flat-headed dormer with leaded lights.

A mid-19th century addition, projecting slightly into the garden, is attached to the right end of the original house. The right return now serves as the principal entrance elevation, with three bays, the left bay being larger and slightly projecting under a gable. It has recessed sashes with gauged brick flat-arched heads, a continuous plat band, a blind opening in the attic, and wavy bargeboards. To the right is a panelled door in a brick porch with a gauged brick flat arch and a simple cornice. The ground floor has 12-pane sashes, the first floor has 16-pane sashes, and the roof is hipped. A 1960s weatherboarded and glazed studio projects into the garden from the 19th-century block.

The interior features stop-chamfered bearers, a fireplace lintel from the early 19th century, and an early 19th-century staircase. In 1791-2, Joseph Haydn was a guest of N. Brassey at Roxford House.