Basing House

Basing House is a large building that currently serves as Council offices. The rear of the structure dates from the 17th century, while the front range was constructed around 1740. It underwent remodeling between 1850 and 1860, was extended around 1885, and had further additions in the early 20th century. The rear features a timber frame that is rendered, while the extensions are made of red brick. The building has a tiled roof with slate-roofed additions and consists of two parallel five-bay ranges, standing two storeys high with attics.

Access to the central entrance is via steps, leading to a six-panelled 18th-century door with panelled reveals. The door is framed by a pedimented doorcase supported by fluted Doric pilasters, topped with a traceried semi-circular fanlight. Flanking the entrance are 19th-century sash windows on the first floor, which have flat arched heads and blind boxes. The facade features a plinth, a plat band, and a moulded brick cornice, with a stone-coped parapet that returns at the original gable ends, where there are stacks with oversailing caps.

At each end of the building, there are single-bay late 19th-century extensions in slightly darker brick, designed to match the 18th-century style. The rear 17th-century range displays some exposed framing with brick nogging and has external end stacks with offsets, along with 20th-century windows. The left return features sashes in a two-storey early 20th-century block, now the Council Chamber. The garden elevation includes two ground floor French windows with margin lights and diamond leaded panes, segmental relieving arches, and a four-bay ornate cast-iron verandah. There are three first-floor sash windows and end stacks, with two span slate roofs. The right return steps down to a lower rear block with a hipped slate roof, which includes a single-storey outshut to the rear right and additional structures that are not of special interest.

Inside, the building features jowled posts and windbraces in the 17th-century roof, a 19th-century staircase, and a plaster ceiling in the Council Chamber. Notably, from 1672 to 1677, Basing House was the residence of William Penn in Rickmansworth.