The Flint House

The Flint House is a house built between 1842 and 1844 by William Chadwell Mylne for himself, as noted by a plaque in the porch. The exterior features uncoursed unknapped flints with yellow brick dressings and a hipped slate roof with wide overhanging eaves. The house has grouped central chimneys that are plastered below brick capping.

It is a large structure with two storeys, attics, and a basement, presenting a three-window entrance front on the east and a longer five-window garden front on the west. The building has a low brick plinth, a brick band at both the floor and eaves levels, and slightly advanced end bays on each front. Brick quoins and gauged flat arches enhance its appearance.

The central porch is enclosed and has panelled pilasters, moulded imposts, and a three-centred opening, along with a moulded cornice featuring a blocking course and fluted urns at the front corners. Each side of the porch has a round-headed window. The house includes recessed sash windows with 6/6 panes, and the porch has 8/8 panes. There is a flat-topped casemented dormer on the east and two similar dormers on the west.

Service rooms are located in the basement, accessible via a sunken way from the west and a tunnel under the lawn on the north side. A similar tunnel may have extended to the east. The interior remains largely unchanged, though some work was done by Robert Mylne around 1890. Notable features include two half-height relief figures of a naval officer with a sextant and a seaman with a rope in the breakfast room, said to originate from a naval church in Farnham around 1759. These figures flank a fireplace adorned with 18th-century carved wooden terms and De Morgan tiles. The frieze features two plaster reliefs by S Henning, based on works by T Stothard and A Henning from 1827. The upper stair hall is surrounded by casts of the Parthenon frieze.

The Flint House was built by William Chadwell Mylne to replace his father's house, Amwell Grove, which he considered to be in an unhealthy location near the river. The plaque in the porch also notes that he laid out and personally planted the garden.